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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap. Copyright No. 

Shelf._Ai.33 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



RAND-MoNALLY 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR 



COMPOSITION 



BY / 

WILLIAM D. HALL 



CHICAGO AND NEW YORK : 

RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY. 






9808 



Copyright, 1898, by Rand, McNally & Co. 



iH9a n 



clVtD. 



PREFACE. 



New text-books on grammar appear annually, a fact which 
proves clearly the difficulty the teacher experiences in finding the 
ideal book for school use. Many of these books have admirable 
features, but few are adapted to the needs of the learner. The 
young pupil does not need an exhaustive treatise. What he does 
need is a concise statement of the actual facts of modern English — 
brief, clear definitions of the laws of language, and ample illustra- 
tion of these principles by examples that illustrate, chosen from the 
masters of English. 

This second volume of a two-book course on English Grammar 
is designed to supply pupils of the seventh and eighth grades with 
a practical text-book. No attempt has been made to present a final 
treatise on the principles of grammar, or to correct the usages of 
the language. The method of the Primary Grammar was inductive 
and constructive, as suited to the needs of less mature pupils ; the 
method of the English Grammar is expository and constructive. 

The essential facts of English, as used by scholars of the present 
day, are stated and defined, clearly and concisely. Every word or 
explanation not strictly necessary to clearness has been excluded ; 
needless comment is more confusing than helpful. For this reason 
the English Grammar may be criticised when compared with other 
text-books. But it is believed that a^good definition is worth a page 
of comment. Additional discussion may be left safely to the teacher. 
The next step is illustration. Each principle is abundantly illus- 
trated by fresh examples drawn from well-known authors. Short, 
pithy sentences are here used by preference ; the words of acknowl- 
edged masters in English literature are preferred to colloquial 
examples, or to extracts from less eminent, contemporary writers. 
Moreover, care has been taken that each illustration shall exemplify 
exactly the point in question, and that, other things being equal, a 
noble sentiment or a celebrated utterance shall be placed before the 
pupil rather than a negative or commonplace expression. A third 
matter is the exercises, which occur at frequent intervals. Here 
additional illustrations (as a rule, longer and widely varied in char- 
acter) are supplied for further practice in parsing or for discussion. 
But clear definition and ample illustration are not enough. In order 



4 PREFACE. 

to make the pupil work for himself and to test his information, he 
is required to construct sentences in illustration of the principles 
he has just learned. 

The plan followed in this book needs a word of comment. The 
ideal plan for teaching has been sought for rather than a theoretical 
system of grammar. Thus, in Part II, under Clauses, the subor- 
dinate connective is reintroduced for a fuller treatment than was 
given in the earlier sections, because for the understanding of the 
clause relation it is essential. Examination of the book will show 
many other instances of divergence from the usual order of develop- 
ment for the sake of a natural approach to the subject. 

Briefly, the plan may be stated as follows : Beginning with the 
sentence as the primary and necessary unit of thought. Part I is de- 
voted to a short treatment of the Sentence as a wlwle — its essential 
elements, the subject and the predicate, and the classification of 
sentences as to form and use. Thus the pupil is enabled at once to 
handle the thought unit as a whole. In Part II, matters commonly 
classified as Etymology are developed, as well as Phrases and Clauses. 
The elements of the sentence now having been fully discussed, Part 
III is concerned with matters of Syntax — Analyses and Forms of 
Sentences, the principles of Government, Concord, Order, Ellipsis, 
etc. — and other allied topics, such as Equivalents and Idioms. Capi- 
talization and Punctuation, together with a brief account of the 
chief rhetorical figures, are included in this part as naturally related 
to the subject of the complete sentence. 

Here grammar proper ends? but, practically, it has been found 
useful to include in language study at this point further instruction 
on Prosody and the elementary rules of composition. Part IV 
contains a brief treatment of the different kinds of composition, 
in prose and verse, and a simple statement of rhetorical principles 
governing the sentence and the paragraph. With the information 
supplied in this part, and with the training afforded by the exer- 
cises, the pupil may proceed at once from the analytic processes 
of grammar to the constructive work of original composition. At 
the close, Prosody, or the grammar of verse, is briefly treated, and 
the chief verse-forms explained and illustrated. 

In conclusion, it may be said that while no one book can be 
expected to answer all the difficult requirements of a text-book in 
language study, the English Grammar will be found comprehensive, 
concise, exact, and, above all, practical. 



CONTENTS. 



Introductory. page 

Grammar and Its Divisions, 9 

Orthography, 10 

Elementary Sounds, 10 

Language, . 13 

PART I. 

Introductory Syntax, 15 

The Sentence, 15 

Elements of the Sentence, . 15 

Classification of the Sentence, 18 

PART II. 

Etymology — The Grammar op Words, 21 

Parts of Speech, 21 

The Noun, 21 

Classification of Nouns, 22 

The Pronoun, 24 

Classification of Pronouns, 25 

The Adjective, 29 

The Classification of Adjectives 30 

The Adjective Pronoun, , 32 

The Verb, 34 

Classification of Verbs, 34 

The Adverb, 38 

Classification of Adverbs 38 

The Preposition, 43 

Classification of Prepositions, . . .44 

The Conjunction, 47 

Classification of Conjunctions, ... .47 

The Interjection, 51 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

Etymology — The Grammar of Words — continued. page 

Inflection, 51 

Nouns and Pronouns, 52 

Person 52 

Number, 52 

Gender, 58 

Case, 60 

Appositives 64 

Declension of Nouns, 65 

Declension of Pronouns, 66 

Absolute Possessive Pronouns, 69 

Parsing, 70 

Comparison of Adjectives, 74 

Comparison of Adverbs, 78 

Inflection of tbe Verb 79 

Voice 79 

Mode, 82 

Tense, 85 

Tenses in All tbe Modes, 89 

Regular and Irregular Verbs, 91 

Auxiliary and Defective Verbs 92 

Person and Number, 98 

Parsing, 99 

Conjugation, 102 

Conjugation of tbe Verb Be 102 

Conjugation of tbe Verb Love 105 

Synopsis of the Verb Love, 107 

Forms of Conjugation, 108 

List of Irregular Verbs, 110 

Verbals, 114 

Participle, Tbe, 114 

Infinitive, The 120 

Phrases, 126 

Parsing the Preposition, 128 

Clauses, 129 

Conjunctions in Clauses, 131 

Words of Double Use, 133 

Varied Use of Words 137 

Direct and Indirect Discourse, 139 



CONTENTS. 7 
PART III. 

PAGE 

Syntax, 141 

The Sentence, 141 

Classification of Elements, 142 

Principal Elements, 143 

Subordinate Elements 146 

Independent Elements, 155 

Analysis of the Sentence, 156 

The Simple Sentence, 156 

The Complex Sentence 160 

The Compound Sentence, 171 

Diagrams, 176 

Simple Sentences, 176 

Complex Sentences, ... 180 

Compound Sentences, 182 

Equivalents, 185 

Government 191 

Concord, 194 

Order, 204 

Ellipsis, 213 

Idioms, 215 

Rules of Syntax, 219 

Capitalization 221 

Punctuation, 222 

Figures of Rhetoric, 232 

PART IV. 

Composition, . 238 

Kinds of Composition, 238 

Descriptions 240 

Narratives, 244 

Expositions— The Essay, 246 

Arguments, 247 

Persuasion — Orations, Sermons, Addresses, etc., . . 249 

Letters, 251 

Invitations, 253 

Acceptances, 254 

Regrets, 254 

Suggestions, 258 



8 CONTENTS. 

Composition — Kinds of Composition — continued. pa q b 

Poetry 259 

Prosody, .... 264 

Iambic Measures 268 

Trochaic Measures, . . 269 

Anapestic Measures, . 270 

Dactylic Measures, . . 271 

Rhyme 271 

Stanza and Verse, 274 

Style and Art of Composition, 277 

Words, 277 

Sentences 285 

Paragraphing, .... 295 

tions, . 300 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR 



COMPOSITION 



INTEODUCTOEY. 



GRAMMAR AND ITS DIVISIONS. 

1. Grammar is a systematic account of the usages 
of a language, in regard especially to the parts of speech 
it distinguishes, the forms and uses of inflected words, 
and the combination of words into sentences. Four dis- 
tinct subjects are usually treated in text-books on gram- 
mar, viz. : Orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody. 
The first and the last of these do not properly belong 
to grammar, though, for convenience, they are generally 
included in text-books on the subject. 

2. Orthography treats of the art of writing words 
with letters according to accepted usage. 

3. Etymology treats of words — their origin, primi- 
tive significance, classification, and inflection. 



10 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

4. Syntax treats of the construction of sentences, 
and the proper use and arrangement of words in sen- 
tences according to established usage. 

5. Prosody treats of the accent of syllables in poetry, 
and the laws of versification. 

6. In the following verses orthography teaches that 
A is a letter, a vowel, a syllable, and a word ; that they 
and him are monosyllables, and merry a dissyllable. Ety- 
mology teaches that A and merry are adjectives, never 
and again adverbs, and come a verb. Syntax teaches 
that A and merry are subordinate to or limit boy; that 
never and again are subordinate to or limit come; that 
come has the form required by accepted usage to agree 
in number with its subject that. Prosody teaches that 
the lines constitute a rhyming triplet, in iambic tetram- 
eter verse. 

A merry boy they called him then. 

He sat upon the knees of men 

In days that never come again. — Tennyson. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 

ELEMENTARY SOUNDS. 

7. The English alphabet consists of twenty-six let- 
ters, from which all the words in the written language 
are formed. 

Letters are marks designed to represent the sounds 
used in speaking. Some letters represent a variety of 
sounds ; hence the twenty-six letters represent about forty 
different sounds. 

Vocal sounds are of two classes — vowel and consonant. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 11 

8. Vowel sounds are those made with the open 
mouth, unobstructed by the position or action of the 
palate, tongue, teeth, or lips. No other aids are needed 
to enable vowels to be sounded. 

These sounds are represented by the letters a, e, i, o, 
and u, which are also called vowels; as, a in mate, e in 
met, u in mute, etc. 

W and y are vowels when in union with other vowels 
they represent the sounds of u and ij as, 7iow, boy, etc., 
and y whenever it takes the place of i, as in type. 

9. Vowels are classified as long and short. 

A long vowel is one that can be prolonged at pleasure; 
as, a in far, e in me, a in may, etc. 

A short vowel is one uttered with a shorter and some- 
what explosive effort; as, a in mat, e in met, i in sit, etc. 

The union of two vowel sounds, or the letters repre- 
senting them in oue syllable, is called a diphthong ; as, 
oi in boil, on in loud, ow in crowd, oy in enjoy, etc. 

Obs. — Ea in weak, oa in float, etc. , sometimes called digraphs, have 
but one vowel sounded and are not, properly speaking, diphthongs. 

10. Consonant sounds are those made by the 
obstructed voice or breath. These sounds are repre- 
sented by letters, also called consonants; as, b in bat, s 
in sun, m in man, etc. 

The consonants are: b, c, d, f, g, h.j, h, I, m, n, p, q, 
r, s, t, v, w, x, z, and y, when used as the initial of a 
syllable or word. 

11. Consonants are classified as suhvocals and 
aspirates. 

The subvocals consist of tone united with breath; as, 
b in bad, g in gone, th in thin, w in win, etc. 



12 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The aspirates consist of breaths without tone. Of 
these there are ten: 



p in pen 


k in kin 


eh in chin 


s in sun 


t in ten 


h in hint 


sh in shun 


wh in wfon 


f in fin 


th in thin 







12. A digraph is the union of two letters to repre- 
sent a single sound. Of the consonant digraphs there are 
eight, representing eight of the sounds of the language: 

ch in chin th in thin zh in azure wh in when 
sh in shim th in this ng in song ph in sylph 

13. Subvocals and aspirates that are produced by 
the same position of the lips, or of the lips and teeth, 
or tongue and palate, are called cognates: 

d and t in hid, hit p and b in nab, nap 

f and v in file, vile z and a in buss, sink 

g and k in rag, rack th and th in bath, bathe 

*zh and sA in azure, ashes i and ch in jo*?i, chain. 

14. Liquids are subvocals that readily unite with 
other consonants ; as, / in blend, r in brake, m in amber. 
ng in songster, etc. 

15. When the termination erZ is immediately pre- 
ceded by an aspirate, the d assimilates (becomes like) its 
cognate t; as, d in flushed, missed, looked, tipped, etc. 

This change of sound is called assimilation, and by 
it many subvocals become aspirate; as, z = s in quartz, 
chintz, etc. 

8, immediately preceded by a sub vocal, assimilates z; 
as, s in bids, fobs, fogs, bathes, etc. 



* The sound of zh represented by s. Zh as a digraph is not found in English. 



LANGUAGE. 13 

16. The termination eel added to so many English 
words often unites with the word without forming an 
extra syllable. This is because the last syllable of the 
original word coalesces with the eel (unites by a kind of 
growth). 

When, however, the original word ends with t or el, 
the added eel forms an extra syllable, because td and dd 
can not be pronounced as syllables. 

LANGUAGE. 

17. Language is the expression of thought. Thus 
it may be oral or written. 

Oral language is composed of a succession of sounds 
called words. Words are the signs of ideas. 

Written language is the expression of thought by the 
use of written or printed words. 

18. In reference to its significant parts, a word must 
contain a root, and may contain a prefix or a suffix. 

A root is either a single word or that part of a word 
modified by a prefix or a suffix; as, fold, unfolel, unfold- 
ment. 

A prefix is a letter or syllable united with the begin- 
ning of a word to modify its meaning ; as, pre in prefix, 
con in conclude, in in wclude. 

A suffix is a letter or syllable united to the end of 
a word to modify its meaning ; as, less in heart/ess, hooel 
in chiWwod, ness in goodness. 

19. According to form and origin, words are classed 
as primitive, derivative, and compound. 

A primitive word is an original root-word, one derived 
from no other in the same language; as, go, free, true. 



14 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

A derivative word is one composed of a primitive 
word, and one or more formative elements called prefixes 
or suffixes ; as, going, freedom, truth. 

A compound word is one composed of two or more 
primitive or derivative words united into one ; as, 

school and house sch.oolh.ou6e 

ink and stand inkstand 

black and bird blackbird 

marble and box marble-box 

rough and tumble rough-and-tumble. 

20. A syllable is an elementary sound or combina- 
tion of sounds made by one effort of the voice, forming 
a word or part of a word. 

Words are also classified as monosyllables, dissyllables, 
trisyllables, and polysyllables. 

A monosyllable is a word with one syllabic ; as, part, 
home, large. 

A dissyllable is a word with two syllables; as, part- 
ner, home-less, larg-er. 

A trisyllable is a word with three syllables; as, part- 
ner-ship, awk-ward-ness. 

A polysyllable is a word with more than three sylla- 
bles; as, co-part-ner-ship, in-de-struct-i-bil-i-ty. 



Part I. 



INTRODUCTORY SYNTAX. 



THE SENTENCE. 

1. A sentence is the expression of a thought 
in words. It is the essential form in which ideas are 
communicated, and of which discourse is composed. 

1. Faithful study improves the mind. 

2. All men are mortal. 

S. Order is Heaven's first law. 

4. That is the best government which desires to make the 
people happy, and knows how to make them happy. 

— Macauxay. 

Every sentence must begin with a capital letter. 

Elements of the Sentence. 

2. The principal elements of a sentence are the 
subject and the predicate. They are so called because 
they are essential to its structure. 

3. The grammatical subject of a sentence is the 
noun or pronoun, which represents that of which some- 
thing is asserted. The logical (or complete) subject 
includes the grammatical subject and its modifiers. 

15 



16 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

1. The sun shines brightly. 

2. Stars have disappeared. 

3. The fleecy clouds are beautiful. 

4. Can you forget a friend? 

The sun is the logical subject of sentence 1. 



4. The grammatical predicate of a sentence is 
that which is asserted of the subject. It may consist of 
a verb alone, or a verb combined with an attribute. The 
logical (or complete) predicate includes the grammatical 
predicate and its modifiers. 

i. The sun shines brightly. 

2. Stars have disappears!. 

3. The fleecy clouds are beautiful. 

4. Can you forget a friend ? 

5. The cottage was almost covered with roses. 

6. Gold is one of the most precious metals. 

Shines brightly is the logical predicate of sun in 
sentence 1. 

5. An attribute is a noun, pronoun, or adjective 
which assigns some class or quality to the subject. 

1. We are Time's subjects. 

2. Can that man be he? 

3. The pebbles along the beach are beautiful. 

4. Birmingham glass is cheap and elegant. 

Obs. — A combination of one subject and one predicate is also 

culled a proposition. K 

6. Subordinate elements are those that modify 
other elements. With respect to form, all elements may 
consist of — 



THE SENTENCE. 17 

1. A word, the simplest element of a sentence, 
called a part of speech. 

1. Soon our ships will sail away. 

2. A phrase, a group of words containing neither 
subject nor predicate, and used as a part of speech. 

2. In Holland the stork is protected by law. 

3. Keep thy heart with all diligence. 

3. A clause, a proposition used as a part of speech. 

4. When the, sun shines the stars disappear. 

7. With respect to their office, subordinate elements 
are divided into three classes: 

1. Adjective elements, those which modify a noun. 

1. A merry heart proves contagious. 

2. A heart of mirth dispels sorrow. 

3. A heart which is always merry lightens all care. 

2. Objective elements, those which limit a transi- 
tive verb or verbal by answering the question what or 
whom the action affects. 

4. The wind carries the clouds along. 

5. The United States purchased Alaska from Russia. 

6. How many peaches did he buy? 

3. Adverbial elements, those which modify a verb, 
an adjective, or an adverb. 

7. An honest toiler sleeps soundly. 

8. A clear conscience slumbers in innocence. 

9. Is the lesson very difficult? 

10. The soldiers fought very bravely. 



18 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Classification of the Sentence. 

8. According to their use, sentences are classified as 
follows: 

1. Declarative, which affirm or deny something. 

1. Business is the salt of life. 

2. The sun may shine to-morrow. 

3. "We will now discuss in a little more detail the 

Struggle for Existence. — Darwin. 



tions. 



Interrogative, which are used in asking ques- 

4. One is what part of three ? 

5. Can a mother forget her child ? 

6. Doth God pervert judgment ? 

7. And dar'st thou then 
To beard the lion in his den, 

The Douglas in his hall ? — Scott. 

3. Imperative, which express a command or an 
earnest request. 

8. Think, decide, and act. 

9. Please pass me the fruit. 

10. Find the number of cords in this pile of wood. 

11. Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, 

As the swift seasons roll ! — Holmes. 

4- Exclamatory, which are declarative, interroga- 
tive, or imperative sentences so used as to express great 
emotion. 

12. Oh, I am so glad to see you ! 

13. What business is this of yours ? 

14. Speak ! speak ! thou fearful guest ! 

15. Come here at once ! 

16. Oh what a tangled web we weave, 

When first we practice to deceive ! — Scott. 



THE SENTENCE. 19 

Obs.— The subject of an interrogative sentence is placed after 
the verb or between the parts of a phrase-verb. 

The subject of an imperative sentence is usually omitted. 

Close every declarative and every imperative sentence 
with a period (.). 

Close every interrogative sentence with an interroga- 
tion point (?). 

Close every exclamatory sentence with cm exclamation 
point (/). 

EXEKCISE. 

(a) Mention the grammatical subject and predicate 
of each of the foregoing sentences. 

(b) Change the declarative to interrogative sentences; 
the interrogative to declarative ; the imperative to inter- 
rogative. 

(c) Construct four exclamatory sentences. 



9. According to their form, or the number and 
rank of statements expressed or contained, there are 
three kinds or classes of sentences : 



1. The simple sentence, which is composed of one 
proposition. 

1. Electricity has been harnessed. 

2. Rome is the most noted city in the world. 

3. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. 



Obs. — One thing may be asserted of several objects, or several 
of one object, or several things of several objects. 



20 ♦ ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

In the first case the subject is called compound; in the second 
the predicate is compound ; in the third both are compound. But 
the sentence remains simple. 

4. Honor and shame from no condition rise. 

5. Education expands and elevates the mind. 

6. Men and women think and act. 



2. The complex sentence, which contains one 
proposition and one or more clauses. 

7. That you may succeed is my desire. 

8. Find the cost of 12 hats, if 3 luits cost $9. 

9. Let us have faith that right makes might. 

10. We shape ourselves the joy or fear 

Of which the coming years are made. — Whittiek. 

3. The compound sentence, which contains two 
or more propositions coordinately united. 

11. Guy was faithful ; therefore he was rewarded. 

12. Cleverness is a desirable quality in men, but it is not 

the best. 

13. The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new, 

And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears. 

— Scott. 

14. The hearts of men are their books, events are their 

tutors, great actions are their eloquence. 

Esehcise. 
(«) Construct three simple sentences. 

(b) Construct four complex sentences — three con- 
taining one clause, one containing two clauses. 

(c) Construct three compound sentences — two con- 
taining two propositions, and one containing three. 



Part II 



ETYMOLOGY— THE GRAMMAR 
OF WORDS. 



PARTS OF SPEECH. 

10. Words are divided according to their use in the 
sentence into eight classes, called parts of speech, as 

follows : Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, 
prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. 

Obs. — Every word of the language belongs to one of these 
classes. Some words, however, may be used as different parts of 
speech in different sentences. (See Sec. 136.) 



THE NOTJ1S. 

11. A noun is a word used as a name; as, John, 
box, England, virtue. 

12. A substantive is a word, phrase, clause, letter, 
or character used as a noun. 

1. We is a word. 

2. T is a letter. 

S. X is the sign of multiplication. 
4. To read is instructive, but I prefer to write. 
21 



22 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

5. Fortune helps the brave. 

G. Three is one fourth of twelve. 

7. Nmo is the accepted time. 

S. Do not close a sentence with for. 

9. That practice makes perfect is well known. 

As what element in the sentence is each of the fore- 
going substantives used ? 

Classification of Nouns. 

13. Nouns are of two general classes : 

1. Proper nouns, the names of particular indi- 
viduals or objects; as, Mary, Chicago, Congress. 

2. Common nouns, names common to all of a class 
of objects ; as, man, tree, town. 

Obs. I.— Two or more words forming hut one name are taken 
together as one noun ; as, John Brown, William the Conqueror. 

Obs. II. — A proper noun becomes common when it is used to 
denote one of a class. Thus we can say, "He is the Webster of 
the Senate," meaning that he has ability common to all statesmen 
like Webster. However, the same name held by more than one 
person or place is a proper noun-; as, Paris, Fiance; Paris, 111. 
The number of Johnsons and Smiths is quite large, but the name 
in each case is a proper noun. In like manner, common nouns 
become proper when, by personification, they denote individual 
objects. 

O Liberty! what crimes are committed in thy name. 

Begin with a capital letter all proper nouns, and words 
derived from them. 

England, English; Shakspere. Sbaksperean 



THE NOUN. 23 

Exercise. 

(a) Mention and classify the nouns in the foregoing 
observations. 

(b) Mention four proper nouns, and employ two of 
them in sentences. 

14. Under common nouns are classed : 

1. Collective nouns, those which, though singular 
in form, denote more than one ; as, family, jury, school. 

2. Absteact nouns, those that designate a quality, 
action, or condition of a person or thing considered apart 
from the person or thing itself; as, sweetness, honor, 
justice. 

Obs. I. — The names of the arts and sciences are abstract nouns, 
being the names of processes of thought considered apart from 
(abstracted from) the persons who practice them ; as, astronomy, or 
music, or 'painting, etc. 

Obs. II. — Abstract nouns are formed from adjectives, verbs, and 
concrete nouns by such endings as ness, hood, head, th, tion, ty, 
ce, ery, ment, ing; as, goodness, or growth, or priesthood, etc. 

Exercise. 

(a) Write four sentences containing collective nouns. 

(b) Make abstract nouns of the following adjectives: 

red broad happy patient prudent 

long strong weary foolish perfect 

(6') Make abstract nouns of the following verbs, and 
use four of them in sentences: 



fly 


think 


steal 


judge 


convert 


rob 


move 


thrive 


grow 


protect 



24 ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

(d) Mention collective nouns describing groups of 
the following objects: 

fish girls ships soldiers 

bees deer horses sailors 

(e) Classify the nouns in the following: 

1. The procession passed the court-house at noon. 

2. Interest is money paid for the use of money. 

3. How Drainage Changes the Surface of Land. 

(A chapter title.) 
^. The product of the means equals the product of the 
extremes. 

5. A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is omnipresent, like 
the Deity. If we take to ourselves the wings of the morning, 
and dwell in the uttermost depths of the sea, duty performed or 
duty violated is still with us, for our happiness or our misery. If 
we say the darkness shall cover us, in the darkness as in the 
light our obligations are yet with us. — Webster. 

6. Not in anger, not in pride, 
Pure from passion's mixture rude 
Ever to base earth allied, 

But with far-heard gratitude, 
Still with heart and voice renewed, 
To heroes living and dear martyrs dead. 
The strain should close that consecrates our brave. 

— Lowell. 

THE PRONOUN. 

15. A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. 

1. I have a ring ; it was my mother's. 
8. The boys are kind ; they wait for us. 
3. I held it truth, with him wlio sings 
To one clear harp in divers tones, 
That men may rise on stepping-stones 
Of their dead selves to higher things. 

— Tennyson. 



THE PRONOUN. 25 

The noun or substantive for which a, pronoun stands 
is called its antecedent. The word antecedent means 
given before. When it does not precede the pronoun, 
the antecedent is clearly understood, or readily supplied, 
as in the case of / and it in sentence 3. 

Mention the pronouns in the preceding sentences ; 
also the antecedents of it, they, I, it, and their. 

Classification of Pronouns. 

16. Pronouns, besides merely taking the place of a 
noun, have other and different functions in the sentence; 
hence, though few in number, they are grouped accord- 
ing to their use into four general classes — personal, 
interrogative, relative, and adjective. 

17. A personal pronoun is one representing, by 
its form, the speaker, the person spoken to, or the per- 
son or thing spoken of. 

1. J am here. 3. He has met us. 

2. We hear you. 4. She will see tliem. 

Which of the above pronouns represent a person or 
persons speaking ? Which persons spoken to ? Which 
represent persons spoken of? 

18. Personal pronouns are classified as follows : 

1. The simple personal pronouns and their vari- 
ous inflectional forms, which are / and toe, thou and yon, 
he, his, and him, she and her, it, them, and they. 

2. The compound personal pronouns, which are 
myself, thyself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, your- 
selves, ourselves, themselves. 



26 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

19. An interrogative pronoun is one used in 
asking a question. 

1. Who comes here ? S. What can you do ? 

2. Which will you take. 4. Whom do you see? 

The interrogative pronouns are ivlw (ivhose and whom), 
which, what. 

Which and what are also used as interrogative 
adjectives. (See Sec. 27.) 

Exercise. 

(a) Construct five sentences, using simple and com- 
pound personal pronouns. 

(b) Construct sentences illustrating the interrogative 
pronoun. What kind of sentences are they? 



20. A relative pronoun is one which both repre- 
sents an antecedent and connects with it a modifying 
clause. Thus it has two offices — that of pronoun and of 
connective. 

1. We saw the man who built the castle. 

2. The fur which warms a monarch warmed a bear. 

3. Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea. 

4. Words that connect parts of sentences are called con- 

junctions. 

5. I knew not what I was playing. 

6. Such as I have I will give you. 



21. Relative pronouns are classified under two heads: 

1. The simple relative pronouns, who {toliose or 
whom), which, that, and what. 



THE PRONOUN. 27 

As, used after such and same, and hut used after a 
negative, are regarded as relatives. 

1. I love such os love me. 

2. This is the same as you saw. 

5. There is no patriot but will defend his country. 

2. The compound eelative pkonotjns, which com- 
bine so or ever with who, which, and w7*aif; as, 

whoever whichever whatever 

whosoever whichsoever whatsoever 

Such relatives are used when the implied antecedent 
is indefinite, or is equivalent to anyone, anything, etc. 

If.. Take whatever you desire. 

5. Whosoever will may come. 

6. Choose whichever you need. 



22. The different relative pronouns are commonly 
restricted in use to certain antecedents, as follows : 

1. Who is commonly used to represent persons. 

1. We trust men who are honest. 

2. Blessed is he tolio has found his work. 

2. WJiich is used to represent animals and things. 

3. Evils wJrich can not be cured must be endured. 

4. I saw the horse to which you refer. 

3. That is used to represent persons, animals, or 
things. 

5. That is the book that I wanted. 

6. He is one of those that deserve very well. 



28 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Jf. What is used to represent things only, and usually 
has no antecedent expressed. 

7. Say wTiat you wish. 

8. Praising what is lost 

Makes the remembrance dear. — Shakspere. 

23. In the use of relatives, that is preferred to who 
or which — 

1. When the antecedent includes both persons and 
things. 

/. See the pirates and the booty that we have captured. 
2. Yonder are the girls and the flowers that compose our 
national bouquet. 

2. When it connects a restrictive clause — one which 
limits or defines the antecedent. 

S. Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. 

4. All that is good a man may learn from himself. 

And much, too, that is bad. — Baii.f.y. 

5. Who that hath ever been 

Could bear to be no more ? — Montgomery. 

24. In the use of relatives, who or which is pre- 
ferred to that — 

1. When the antecedent is modified by that. 

1. That artist wtiom you saw. 

2. That remark which you made. 

2. When they introduce a non-restrictive clause — 
one which adds a new fact about the antecedent. In 
such cases they are equivalent to and lie, and if, etc.; 
for he, for it, etc. 

3. Congress appointed a commissioner, who negotiated a 

treaty. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 29 

Obs. — An adjective pronoun is a limiting adjective which 
represents a noun understood. 

1. Most days are bright; some are dark. 

2. Many are called ; but few are chosen. 

For discussion of the adjective pronoun, see Sec. 28. 
Exercise. 

(a) Classify the italicized words in the foregoing sen- 
tences, and mention the parts which each one connects. 

(b) Fill the following blanks with appropriate rela- 
tive pronouns: 

1. Ventilation is a matter few understand. 

2. He knew not they were. 

3. He married a French lady they say was very witty. 

4.. do men say that I am ? 

5. I see the man I think is to make the speech. 

6. should I find but my cousin? 

7 He is giddy thinks the world turns round. 

8. She's fair beauty only makes her gay. 

(c) Construct sentences illustrating the use of each 
one of the relative pronouns; mention the use of each 
relative, both as a pronoun and as a connective. 

(d) Give two examples where that is preferred to 
who or which. Why ? 



THE ADJECTIVE. 

25. An adjective is a word used to modify the 
meaning of a noun or pronoun; as, good men, the girl, 
great writers, ten houses. 



30 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Adjectives modify (measure, restrict, or bound) the 
application of the noun with which they are used, and 
may be employed either directly with the modified 
word, or as an attribute of the predicate describing the 

subject. 

1. Fine gold is found in Alaska. 

2. Gold is ductile and malleable. 



The Classification of Adjectives. 

26. Adjectives are of two general classes : 

1. The qualifying adjective, which modifies the 
meaning of a noun or pronoun by denoting quality; as, 
sweet apples, running brooks, warm days. 

Obs. — Adjectives derived from proper names are called proper 
adjectives, and should begin with a capital letter; as, Roman art, 
English vessels. A few exceptions occur in the case of words that 
have become common ; as, china cup, paris green, etc. 

2. The limiting adjective, which limits the mean- 
ing of a noun or pronoun without denoting quality; as, 
a book, tliis apple, two days. 

27. Limiting adjectives are classified as follows: 

1. The article adjectives, a (or an) and the. A 
(or an) is called the indefinite article adjective because 
it points out one, but no particular, object; as, a book, 
an orange. A is used before an initial consonant sound, 
and an before an initial vowel sound; as, a peach, an 
oak, a youth, an hour. Tlie is called the definite article 
adjective because it points out some particular object; as, 
the book, the desk. 



THB ADJECTIVE. 31 

#. Numeral adjectives, those which denote num- 
ber; as, one, two, first, second. Numeral adjectives may 
be — 

(a) Cardinal, denoting how many; as, four, five. 

(b) Ordinal, denoting serial order; as, fourth, fifth. 

Numeral adjectives include such words as double, 
triple, two-fold, three-fold, denoting repetition ; as, a 
double cord, a three-fold sense. 

3. Interrogative adjectives, those used in ask- 
ing questions. 

1. Which book will you read ? 

2. One is what part of three ? 

3. Whose watch is this ? 

The interrogative adjectives are which, what, and ivhose. 

Obs. — Interrogative adjectives become pronouns when the 
nouns they limit are removed. 

Jf. Demonstrative adjectives, those that point 
out objects definitely. 

4. This book is mine ; that slate is yours. 

5. These apples are sweet ; those grapes are sour. 

The principal demonstratives are : 



this 


these 


former 


same 


yon 


that 


those 


latter 


both 


yonder 



5. Indefinite adjectives, those that point out 
objects indefinitely. 

6. Some valleys are narrow ; many plains are wide. 

7. Such crimes were common in other days. 



32 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The principal indefinite adjectives are : 

some all other such much 

many any another few little 

THE ADJECTIVE PRONOUN. 

28. An adjective pronoun is a limiting adjective 
so used as to represent a noun or pronoun understood. 
The omission of the noun changes a purely limiting 
word into a pronoun. 

1. That is Harry's pencil. 

2. Some (plains) ai % e fertile ; many are barren. 

3. And say to all the world, " This was a man." 

4. All are needed by each one. 

Nothing is fair or good alone. — Emekson. 

The most common adjective pronouns are : 

1. Indefinite — one, none, any, some, each, either, 
neither, other, another, else, several, all, few, little, many. 

5. Read several (stanzas), not all. 

2. Demonstrative — this, that, these, those, such, 
both, former, latter. 

6. You will use this (pencil), I will use the other. 

Obs. I. — Each, either, neither have a distributive force. Each 
means all the individuals of a class taken separately, and may 
refer to two or more. 

1. Useless (is) each without the other. 

Either and neither are applied to one of two objects only. 
When referring to more than two, any and none should be used. 

2. You may read either of the two poems. 

3. Neither of the two will please you. 

4. Any of the four may suit you. 

5. None dare brave the storm. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 33 

Obs. II. — One and other, when used in pairs, represent objects 
acting upon each other, and are thus called reciprocals. 

1. The girls saw one another. The girls saw — one saw 

another. 

2. They saw each other. They saw — each saw the other. 

In these constructions one or each and other may be 
used interchangeably as subjects of the sentence. Use 
each with other in referring to two objects, and one with 
another in referring to more than two. Sometimes the 
two parts of the reciprocals may be used separately, as 
in example 1, under Obs. I, page 32. 

Exercise. 

(a) Construct sentences illustrating the use of the 
following classes of adjectives, viz. : Qualifying, proper, 
interrogative, article, cardinal, and ordinal. 

(b) Construct sentences illustrating the use of the 
following words, (1) as limiting adjectives, and (2) as 
adjective pronouns: 

this none many either such 

that some few neither both 

(c) Construct sentences containing reciprocal pro- 
nouns. 

(d) Classify the adjectives and pronouns in the fol- 
lowing examples, and tell the use of each : 

This was the noblest Roman of them all. 

A thousand years are but as yesterday. 

A hundred men were drawn up in one long li»ne. 

4. Give me this favor, and I will ask no more. 

5. Few things are impossible to diligence and skiM. 



34 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

6. Of the ancient architecture and most expressive beauty of 
their country there is now little vestige left; and it is one of the 
few reasons which console me for the advance of life, that I am 
old enough to remember the time when the sweet waves of Reuss 
and Limmat were as crystalline as the heavens above them; when 
her pictured bridges and embattled towers ran unbroken round 
Lucerne ; when the Rhine flowed in deep-green, softly-dividing 
currents round the wooded ramparts of Geneva. — Ruskin. 

7. Green be the graves where her martyrs are lying ! 

Shroudless and tombless they sunk to their rest, 
While o'er their ashes the starry fold flying 
Wraps the proud eagle they roused from his nest. 
Borne on her Northern pine, 
Long o'er the foaming brine 
Spread her broad banner to storm and to sun ; 
Heaven keep her ever free, 
Wide as o'er land and sea 
Floats the fair emblem her heroes have won ! — Holmes. 
S. Two Voices are there ; one is of the Sea, 

One of the Mountains ; each a mighty voice ; 
In both from age to age thou didst rejoice, 
They were thy chosen music, Liberty ! — Wordsworth. 



THE VERB. 

29. A verb is a word used to assert action, being, 
or state ; as, he runs, they live, I am. 

The term verb is from the Latin verbum, meaning 
the word. It is so called because it is the word of a 
sentence — the part of speech without which no assertion 
can be made. 

Classification of Verbs. 

30. According to their use, verbs are of three kinds 
or classes : 



THE VERB. 35 

1. The transitive verb, one that expresses action 
exerted on some object. 

1. He broke the vase. 

2. "Words pay no debts. 

3. Have you seen the comet? 

4. Nickel resembles silver. 

Obs. — Transitive verbs are such as require an object in order 
to make a complete predication. 

The object of such verbs is the noun or substantive which 
names that upon which the doer or agent acts. 

2. The intransitive verb, one that expresses action 
or state which is not exerted on any object. 

5. He works. 

6. We travel. 

7. Friends come. 

8. Will they go? 

9. Black Beauty will go till he drops. 

Obs. — Some verbs may be used either transitively or intran- 
sitively. The use of a word (syntax), not its form, determines 
whether it is transitive or intransitive. See Obs. 3, Sec. 78 (where 
prepositions used with verbs are treated). 

He ran a race. The boy ran. 

3. The copulative verb, one which requires an 
attribute describing the subject in order to form a com- 
plete predicate. The attribute may be a substantive or 
an adjective. 

10. Stars are suns. 

11. He appears thrifty. 

12. She seems studious. 

13. Lincoln became president. 

14. She walks a queen. 

15. It looked beautiful. 

16. Literature is the thought of thinking souls. 



36 ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

The verb be is the assertive element of the sentence. 
It links the attribute with the subject, and is thus culled 
the copula (Latin for link). Be is found in all verbs, 
either expressed or understood. 

17. While I am writing, he is thinking. 

18. He stood (was standing) while I sat (teas sitting). 

Thus every verb has two distinct elements — one is 
assertive, the other attributive. The latter, separated 
from the former, becomes a participle having no power 
to express a thought. 

Obs. — When the verb be is used to assert mere existence, it is 
not copulative, but finite, and is the grammatical predicate of the 
sentence. When thus used, it is generally preceded by the exple- 
tive there, or followed by limiting words denoting place. 

1. There was a storm. 

2. He is in Boston. 

3. Were you ttiere? 
4- I am on the way. 

5. They will be at home. 

6. Our times are in His hands. 



Exercise. 

(a) Construct three sentences illustrating the use of 
a transitive verb. Construct three sentences illustrating 
the use of an intransitive verb. State the main difference 
between these two classes of verbs, and define the object 
of the former. 

(b) Employ in eight sentences eight copulative verbs 
selected from the following list, and state the office of 
the copula and that of the attribute : 



THE VERB. 37 

appear create grow smell is made 

appoint elect name walk is called 

become esteem regard run is thought 

continue feel render move is regarded 

(c) Classify the verbs in the following sentences 
according to their use. Name the subjects and objects 
of transitive verbs, and the subjects and attributes of 
copulative verbs : 

1. It snows and the wind blows. 

2. The smoke rained flakes of soot upon our heads. 

3. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! 
4- But wild ambition loves to slide, not stand. 

5. The cars move rapidly and safely. 

6. Did you see the comet? 

7. A blue flag indicates general rain or snow. 

8. Progress is the law of life. 

9. But who can paint 
Like Nature? Can imagination boast, 

Amid its gay creation, hues like hers ? — Thomson. 

10. No personal consideration should stand in the way of per- 
forming a duty. 

11. What the Puritans gave the world was not thought, but 
action. — Wendell Phillips. 

12. The world we live in is a fairyland of exquisite beauty, 
our very existence is a miracle in itself, and yet few of us enjoy 
as we might, and none of us as yet appreciate fully, the beauty 
and wonders which surround us. — Lubbock. 

13. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are 
met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those 
who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is alto- 
gether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger 
sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not 
hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who strug- 
gled here have consecrated it far above our power to add or 
detract. The world will little note, nor long remember Avhat we 
say here, but it can never forget what they did here. — Abraham 
Lincoln. 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

lfy. My heart leaps up when I behold 

A rainbow in the sky: 
So was it when my life began, 
So is it now I am a man, 
So be it when I shall grow old 

Or let me die ! 
The Child is father of the Man : 
And I could wish my days to be 
Bound each to each by natural piety. — Wordsworttt. 



THE ADVERB. 

31. An adverb is a word used to modify the 
meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It 
limits the action or state expressed by the verb just as 
an adjective limits the meaning of a noun. By express- 
ing degree or quality the adverb modifies an adjective or 
an adverb. 

1. He speaks rapidly and forcibly. 

2. The paper is very white. 

3. Opinions formed hastily are often erroneous. 
4- He spoke exceedingly well. 

Classification of Adverbs. 

32. Some adverbs have no office except to modify 
a single word or element ; others have some additional 
office. According to their use, therefore, adverbs are of 
three kinds or classes — simple, interrogative, and con- 
junctive. 

33. Simple adverbs are those that directly limit 
some verb, adjective, or adverb. They are divided 
according to their meaning into the following classes : 

1. Adverbs of time, such as answer the questions, 
When? How long? How often? 



THE ADVERB. 39 

1. I am busy now. 

2. I shall return soon. 

3. He will sail to-day. 

4. Come early. 

5. He went yesterday. 

6. He writes daily. 

2. Adverbs of place, such as answer the questions, 
Where? Whither? Whence? 

7. Are we all here? 

8. We shall soon go abroad. 

9. Move forward at once. 

10. Whither has he gone? 

11. Hither have we come. 

12. Yonder are two boys playing. 

3. Adverbs of manner, such as answer the ques- 
tions, How? In what way? 

13. The brook flows smoothly along. 
14- His words were rudely spoken. 

15. Our ranks were quickly broken. 

16. We easily forget our misdeeds. 

17. One can readily imagine himself a prince. 

Jf. Adverbs of degree, such as answer the questions, 
How much ? To what extent ? 

18. The waters are very cold. 

19. The field was partly plowed. 

20. Both boys read equally well. 

21. He is too fond of reading. 

22. She is loholly devoted to her art. 



34. An interrogative adverb is an adverb used 
in asking questions in reference to manner, time, place, 



40 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

23. How long will you remain ? 

24. When do you expect your friends? 

25. Where shall we go to-morrow? 

26. I did not find out whence he had come. 

27. No one knew how he had done it. 



35. A coujunctive adverb is an adverb that modi- 
fies a word in a clause, and also connects that clause 
with some word in the proposition. 

Such adverbs thus have a double office in the sentence 
— that of adverb and of conjunction. For fuller treat- 
ment, see Sec. 134. 

1. Make hay while the sun shines. 

2. I went because I was invited. 

3. He stood where he could see the procession easily. 

Obs. I. — Adverbs sometimes limit prepositional phrases or 
entire clauses. 

1. He stood wholly within the shadow. 

2. The result was far beyond our hopes. 

3. He lives just around the corner. 

4. He found the book exactly where he laid it. 



Obs. II.— A few adverbs limit not merely the verb, but the 
whole sentence, by showing the degree of confidence with which 
the assertion is made, or by indicating its relation to other state- 
ments. They are called modal adverbs. 

1. Certainly I will go. 

2. Perhaps I shall remain. 

3. He will be present doubtless. 

4. Possibly he may sing. 

5. They will come assuredly. 

6. Indeed you are right. 

Yes, nay, no, and not are also classed as modal adverbs. 



THE ADVERB. 41 

36. Most adverbs of manner and some others are 
formed from adjectives by adding lyj as, bright, bright-t- 
rough, rough-/?/. 

When the adjective ends in le, the e is changed to y; 
as, gentle, gent-ly. When the adjective ends in ic, alis 
added before suffixing lyj as, tragic, tragio-al-ly . Prefixes 
and suffixes make a few adverbs out of adjectives; as, 
wry, awry; all, alway. One, two, and three become once, 
twice, thrice. 

A few adverbs are root- words; as, now, not, well, so, etc. 

Many words are used either as adjectives or adverbs 
without a change of form. 

1. He is a well man. He acted well his part. 

2. He went yonder. He went to yonder grove. 

3. I saw him last week. He came last. 

4. She is the best singer. She sings best. 

Exercise. 

(a) Construct sentences, three containing interroga- 
tive adverbs and three conjunctive. 

(b) Make lists of simple adverbs, five of each class, 
viz. : Of time, place, manner, and degree. Employ each 
of these in sentences. 

(c) Select three sentences illustrating the use of 
different modal adverbs. 

(d) Construct sentences, using six of the following 
words as modal adverbs: 



verily 


surely 


perhaps 


yes 


truly 


perchance 


indeed 


therefore 


doubtless 


no 


not 


undoubtedly 



42 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(e) Use in sentences the following adjectives ; in 
other sentences adverbs derived from them : 



bright 


hard 


magic 


grand 


just 


sudden 


noble 


scarce 


amiable 



(/) Classify the adverbs in the following passages, 
and tell what each one limits : 

1. Here rests his head upon the lap of earth. 

2. Lightning flashed vividly in the clouds. 

3. The stately train dashed furiously along. 

4. The branches swayed gently hither and thither. 

5. Whithersoever thou goest, there will I go. 

6. The engineer has had a pretty general experience. 

7. He walked too long and too far. 

8. The moving moon went up the sky, 

And nowhere did abide ; 
Softly she was going up, 
And a star or two beside. — Coleridge. 

9. All around bloomed the beautiful roses, and through the 

gentle evening air the swallows flitted, twittering 
cheerily. — Field. 

10. Make a song of the swallows and the roses, and it shall 

be sung forever, and your fame shall never die. 

— Field. 

11. Where are the swallows fled? 

12. Fair laughs the Morn, and soft the zephyr blows, 

While proudly riding o'er the azure realm 
In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes.— Gray. 

13. Go, forget me, and to-morrow 
Brightly smile and sweetly sing ! 
Smile, — though I shall not be near thee; 

Sing, — though I shall never hear thee ! — Charles Wolfe, 

14. I wind about, and in and out, 

With here a blossom sailing, 
And here and there a lusty trout, 
And here and there a grayling. —Tennyson. 



THE PREPOSITION. 43 



THE PREPOSITION. 

37. A preposition is a connective word of a phrase 
showing the relation of its object to the word which the 
phrase modifies. 

1. A figure in bronze stood on the mantel. 

2. The vessels came into port after the storm. 

3. The road along the river and through the wood was very 

level. 

Different relations are expressed by different preposi- 
tions, as will be seen in the following : 



( against f 

-< . t.hfi hnnsp Mvhnnsp is •( 



( against ( under 



He stood -\ , the house. My house is ■< . the hill, 

under ' beyond 



A preposition, combined with its object, is called a 

prepositional phrase. 



38. The object of a preposition is the substantive 
related by the preposition to the word which the phrase 
modifies. The word modified may be: 

1. A noun. 

1. He carries a letter of credit. 

2. A verb. 

2. He sat under a tree. 

3. An adjective. 

3. The hall was bright with lamps. 

Jf. An adverb. 

4. She reads well for a child. 



44 EN0LT8H GRAMMAR. 

39. The principal relations expressed by preposi- 
tions are : 

1. Those of place. 

1. He lives in Europe. 

2. The child lay on the bed. 

2. Those of time. 

3. He will study till night. 

/,. They will come on the morrow. 

3. Those of cause or manner. 

5. She died of a broken heart. 

6. He was punished for his crime. 

7. They were stifled by the smoke. 
5. Sanctify us through thy truth. 

4- Those of possession, kind, or character. 

9. That is the home of my father. 

10. This is a volume of poetry. 

11. Bring me a bar of iron. 



Classification of Prepositions. 

40. Prepositions may be classified as : 

1. Simple, consisting of a single word. 

at from of toward 

by in on through 

for into to round 

2. Phrase prepositions, consisting of two or more 

words used as one. 



as to 


out of 


according to 


as for 


instead of 


in regard to 


but for 


because of 


on accouut of 



THE PREPOSITION. 45 

3. Participial prepositions — participles used to 
show relation only. 

concerning regarding touching 

bating excepting respecting 

Obs. — Usage often unites certain prepositions with verbs to 
express action, being, or state. Sometimes they are closely 
united — as, mY/tstand, o»«reome; sometimes loosely — as, break off, 
laugh at, agree to. Such prepositions should be regarded as inte- 
gral parts of the verb. 

Exercise. 

(a) Write answers to the following questions : What 
is a preposition? What is its office in the sentence? 
Of what does it form a part? What is a prepositional 
phrase, and what parts of speech may it modify? What 
is a simple preposition ? A phrase preposition? A par- 
ticipial preposition? 

(b) Mention two or more prepositions that may be 
successively and appropriately used in each of the fol- 
lowing examples : 

1. The book is the desk. 

2. We traveled Europe. 

3. This diamond was sent Maud. 

If.. They find game the river. 

5. We shall start daybreak. 

6. We rowed the current. 

7. They will sail the sea. 

(c) Fill the following blanks with appropriate prepo- 
sitions : 

1. The hills are covered a carpet green. 

2. We shall ride our friends the streets. 

3. They begin work June sunrise. 

4. I bring fresh showers the thirsty flowers 

sea and storm. 



46 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



5. Humility becometh the converse man his 

Maker. 

6. Heavy showers fell the night, but the clouds 

disappeared sunrise. 



(d) Employ as prepositions at least ten of the fol- 
lowing words, commonly used as such: 



aboard 


behind 


since 


about 


beneath 


till 


above 


besides 


under 


across 


between 


until 


after 


down 


unto 


against 


during 


up 


along 


ere 


upon 


around 


except 


with 


athwart 


over 


within 


before 


past 


without 


below 


round 





(e) Mention the prepositional phrases in the follow- 
ing sentences, and tell what each one modifies. Name 
also the preposition and the object: 

/. The seat under the tree is a favorite resort for the 
village folk. 

2. Midlothian is famous for its quarries of freestone. 

3. The proud are always provoked by pride. 

4. A jealous love lights his torch from the firebrands of 

the furies. 

5. Thrift of time will repay you in after life with a usury 

of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams. 
— Gladstone. 

6. The tree of knowledge in your garden grows 
Not single, but at every humble door. — Holmes. 

7. Hand in hand with angels 

Through the world we go ; 
Brighter eyes are on us 
Than we blind ones know. — Lucy Labcom. 



THE CONJUNCTION. 47 

I chatter over stony ways, 

In little sharps and trebles 
I bubble into eddying bays, 

I babble on the pebbles.— Tennyson. 



THE CONJUNCTION. 

41. A conjunction is a word used to unite sen- 
tences or parts of sentences. 

1. Boys and girls play, but men and women work. 

2. Our bugles sang truce, for the night-cloud had lowered. 

Classification of Conjunctions. 

42. According to their office in the sentence, all 
conjunctions, whether pure conjunctions or conjunctive 
words, may be grouped into two general classes — coordi- 
nate and subordinate. 

43. Coordinate conjunctions connect parts of 
equal rank; as, 

Sarah and Susan are students. 

And coordinates (puts in equal order or rank) the 
nouns Sarah and Susan by making them equally the 
subject of the sentence. 

Coordinate conjunctions are of four kinds or classes: 

1. Copulative conjunctions, connecting parts in 
harmony with each other. 

1. The boy and girl are brother and sister. 

2. Grant was a soldier; moreover, he was a statesman. 

3. Welcome the coming and speed the parting guest. 



48 EM : I, I si l QRA If MAR 

The principal copulative conjunctions are 
and 



So 


likewise 


now 


;ilso 


besides 


moreover 


too 


even 


furthermore 



Obs — And places the parts in perfect equality. All others are 
associated with and, expressed or understood, to give emphasis or 
add an additional idea. The semicolon usually represents and 

wiien it is omitted. 

/. He was an able judge ; (and) besides, he was just. 
2. They were shrewd; likewise, honest. 



2. Adversative conjunctions, uniting parts in 
opposition lo, or in contrast with, each other. 

/. The horse was drowned, but the rider escaped. 
S. It rains, yet we shall sail to-day. 

The principal adversative conjunctions are : 

but yet now nevertheless 

still however notwithstanding 



Obs.— Rut denotes opposition without emphasis; all others are 
associated with but, expressed or understood, to give emphasis or 
some additional idea. The semicolon usually represents but when 

it is omitted 



3. Alternative conjunctions, offering or denying 
a choice. 

3. He can neither Bing nor play. 
4- I am engaged, otherwise I would accept. 
6. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give 
my hand and my heart to this vote.— WEBSTER 



THE CONJUNCTION. 49 

The alternative conjunctions are or and nor, which 
merely offer or deny a choice; else, otherwise, associated 
with or to express emphasis; either and neither, correla- 
tives of or and nor. 

For definition of correlatives, see Obs., Sec. 44. 

4. Causal conjunctions, uniting parts, one of 
which is the cause, reason, or result of the other. 

6. He blushes ; therefore he is guilty. 

7. The crop is abundant ; hence the soil is fertile. 

8. Take an umbrella, for it may rain. 

The principal causal conjunctions are : 

accordingly hence therefore 

consequently so wherefore 

for thus thereupon 



44. Subordinate conjunctions connect parts of 
unequal rank. 

I will sing if you wish. 

If subordinates (puts in lower order or rank) the 
clause, you wish, to the proposition, / will sing, by 
making it a mere modifier of the predicate, toill sing. 

Subordinate conjunctions are employed to connect 
clauses with the words which the clauses modify. For 
a fuller treatment, see Sec. 130. 

Obs. — Conjunctions used in pairs are called correlatives (having 
mutual relations), because they introduce and connect two alter- 
natives. The former member of the pair awakens the expectation 
of another element, and is always followed by the latter. 

1. Both the express and the mail were robbed. 

8. You may either go or stay. 

3. Though I am old, yet I am strong. 
4 



as 



50 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The principal correlatives are : 

both — and though — yet so 

either — or if — then such — as 

neither — nor as — as not only — that 

whether — or as — so not only — but also 

Exercise. 

(a) Mention the different classes of conjunctions. 
Define each class, and give examples. Which class con- 
nect propositions ? Which unite clauses with proposi- 
tions ? What different parts of a sentence may they 
connect ? 

(b) Construct sentences containing the following 
words as conjunctions : 

and or either 

but nor neither 

also hence therefore 

(c) Classify the conjunctions in the following, and 
mention the words, phrases, or propositions which each 
connects : 

1. Wishes fail, but wills prevail. 

2. They will dine with you or me. 

3. Both you and he may win a prize. 
Jt. He is very young, yet he is efficient. 

5. They are not angry, but excited. 

6. Fast or slowly the snow drives in. 

7. She is neither old nor infirm. 

8. We rode over the hills and across the valley. 

9. Some nouns are used either in the singular or plural. 

10. The English were well prepared for battle; therefore 

they made ready their lines. 

11. Not what we give, but what we share — 

For the gift without the giver is bare. — Lowell. 



THE INTERJECTION— INFLECTION. 51 

THE INTERJECTION. 

45. An interjection is an exclamatory word used 
to express sudden emotion or surprise. It has no organic 
relation with the other parts of the sentence, and may 
be known by the use of the exclamation point (!), either 
directly after it or at the end of the sentence. 

1. Hark! they whisper. 

2. Alas! I have wronged a friend. 

3. Pshaw! what a ridiculous story! 

4. Hip, hip, Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 

5. Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness ! 

6. O Time ! O Fate ! 

Many words generally used as other parts of speech 
may be used as interjections, and when so used should 
be considered as such. 

7. Peace! breathe not his name. 

8. Hark! I hear sweet music. 

9. Strange! must he go so soon? 

Obs. — A phrase or a clause may be used as a single exclama- 
tion and thus become an interjection phrase or an interjection clause. 

1. Thunder and lightning ! 

2. Oh that I had the strength of ten thousand ! 



INFLECTION. 

46. Inflection, in grammar, is a change in the 
form of a word to vary its meaning or use. 

That form of a word upon which inflections are made 
is called the 



52 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Inflections we made in four ways: 

/. By a change within the word; as, write, wrote; 
man, men. 

.'. By lidding a letter or syllable; as, man, nun's. 
bear, hears, hearing. 

3. By auxiliary words; as, see, -will see; look, may 
look; excellent, more excellent. 

4. By the substitution of a word different in spelling 
and in sound; as, good, better, best; be. am, is, was. 

Words are inflected to show person, number, gender, 
case, voice, mode, tense, and degree of comparison. The 
inflection of nouns and pronouns is called declension; 
that of adjectives and adverbs, comparison; that of 
verbs, conjugation. 



NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 

47. Nouns are inflected to show number, gender, 
and case, while they show person by their use as deter- 
mined by the context. Pronouns are inflected to show 
person, number, gender, and case. 

Person. 

48. Person is that use or form of nouns and pro- 
nouns which shows whether they denote persons speak- 
ing, persons spoken to, or persons or things spoken of. 
There are three persons, as follows : 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 53 

1. The first person, which denotes the speaker. 

1. We, the people, govern. 

2. Many evils beset us. 

2. The second person, which denotes the person 
en to. 

3. You are right, Clara. 

4.. Fellow citizens, a crisis has arisen. 

3. The third person, which denotes the person or 
thing spoken of. 

5. Julia studies music. 

6. Washington was a surveyor. 

Obs. — Nouns are usually in the third person. When, however, 
they are used as appositives* or independently as terras of address, 
they may be in the first person, or in the second, as seen in 
examples 1, 3, and 4 above. 

Exercise. 

How is person denoted ? Name and define the per- 
sons. Employ a noun and a pronoun in each person in 
sentences. 

Number. 

49. Number is that form of a noun or pronoun 
which distinguishes one object from wore than one. 
There are two numbers : 

1. The singular number, which denotes but one 
object; as, boy, girl, it, she. 

2. The plural number, which denotes more than 

one object; as, boys, girls, they. 



* For fuller treatment of ajijiosi/it'ts, set' Sec 5<>. 



54 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Nouns indicate their plurals by inflection. The sin- 
gular number is regarded as the stem of the noun. To 
this stem various inflections are added to express the 
plural number. 

50. The plurals of most nouns are regularly formed — 

1. By adding s to the singular when it ends with a 
sound that will unite or coalesce with s; as, book, books; 
tree, trees; alley, alleys. 

2. By adding es to the singular of nouns ending in 
s, x, z, sh, and ch (soft); as, box, boxes; church, churches; 
marsh, marshes; topaz, topazes. 

51. The plurals of certain nouns are irregularly 
formed as follows : 

1. Most nouns ending in o, preceded by a consonant, 
add es; as, cargo, cargoes; torpedo, torpedoes; but others, 
like the following — canto, octavo, solo, tyro, piano, 
halo, virtuoso, zero, grotto, quarto — add s only. 

2. The plural of nouns ending in ?/, preceded by a 
consonant, is formed by changing y to i and adding es; 
as, city, cities; sky, skies. 

3. The following twelve nouns ending in / form 
their plural by changing / to v and adding es; as, loaf, 
loaves; the three ending in fe form their plural by 
changing / to v and adding s; as, life, lives. 



elf 


calf 


leaf 


loaf 


life 


self 


half 


beef 


thief 


wife 


shelf 


wolf 


sheaf 


wharf 


knife 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 55 

I4.. Ox adds en for its plural ; child, ren. Brother, in 
one of its two plurals, adds en, and also has a vowel- 
change, brethren. 

5. All nouns ending in ff add s only, except staff 
(meaning a stick), when ff is changed to v and es is 
added. But staff (meaning a body of officers) has a 
regular plural. 

6. The plurals of letters, figures, characters, signs, 
and words, when used merely as words, are usually formed 
by adding the apostrophe and s ('&); as, t, t'sj 2, 2'sj 
+, -\-'sj oh, oh's, etc. 

7. Most compound nouns pluralize the base, or part 
described; as, 

Singular. Plural. 

merchant-tailor merchant-tailors 

aide-de-camp aides-de-camp 

8. Parts of a compound noun, equally prominent, are 
both pluralized; as, 



Plural. 

man-servant men-servants 

knight-templar knights-templars 

9. Compound nouns, whose parts are so united as 

to form a single word or expression, pluralize the last 
part; as, 

Singular Plural. 

spoonful spoonfuls 

Frenchman Frenchmen 

stepson stepsons 

fellow-servant fellow-servants 

maidservant maidservants 

forget-me-not forget-me-nots 



56 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR 



tO. Nouns from foreign languages, if their use has 



become common, may form their plur; 
way, or retain their foreign plurals, 
here given: 
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. 

formula j formulafl 

( formula' 



cherabj c J eru Jf 

( cherubim 



Is in the regular 
Both forms are 

Singular. Plural. 



bandit 



bandits 
banditti 



11. Others, not so common, retain their foreign 
plurals. Some examples of these are: 

LATIN. GREEK. 

Singular. Plum!. 

analysis analyses 
thesis theses 

FRENCH. 

bean beaux 

(Mr.) Messieurs 

(Mrs.; Mesdames 

Note. -For further illustrations, see lists in the spelling-book. 



lingular 


Plural. 


radius 


radii 


datum 


data 


stratum 


strata 


vertex 


vertices 


axis 


axes 


genus 


genera 


crisis 


crises 



hi. 



By a vowel change within the word: 



Singular. 
man 
woman 
mouse 



Plural. 
men 
women 
mice 



tooth 
louse 
goose 



Plural. 
teeth 
lice 



Obs. I.— Abstract nouns and names of substances are seldom 
used in the plural; but when different kinds of substances are 
referred to, the plurals may be employed. 

/. These are the best teas on the market. 
'. Have you tried <>ur oils and vainest 
S. Some waters are quite medicinal 

Obs. II -Some nouns are plural in form, but either singular 
or plural in meaning; as, alms, corps, series, riches, suds. 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 57 

Obs. III. —Others have no singular; as, ashes, assets, shears, 
scissors. 

Obs. IV. — Some nouns have the same form in both numbers; 
as, deer, trout, gross, brace. 

Obs. V. — Some nouns have two plurals with different mean- 
ings; as, 

fishes (individuals) fish (quantity) 

heads (of bodies) head (of cattle) 

pennies (pieces of money) pence (value in pennies) 

Obs. VI. — Some nouns which denote number or measure are 
used in the plural sense without the plural form. 

1. Ten head of horses were sold. 

2. How many brace of ducks did you shoot? 

Obs. VII.— Proper names with titles, pluralize either the title 
or the name itself; as, 
m 

the Misses Brown ( the Messrs. Smith 

Miss Brown 1 or Mr. Smith ) or 

the Miss Browns ( the Mr. Smiths 

the Mesdames Jones 
Mrs. Jones 

the Mrs. Jones's 



Exercise. 

(a) Mention the person and number of the nouns 
and pronouns in a page of your reader. 

(b) Write the plural forms of the following nouns : 



onyx 


topaz 


canoe 


brush 


patch 


frontier 


calico 


canto 


play 


octavo 


manifesto 


tray 



58 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



echo 


oratorio 


nuncio 


journey 


mercy 


buoy 


glory 


duodecimo 


money 


beef 


wharf 


wolf 


calf 


quay 


sheaf 


elf 


deer 


die 


dictum 


brandy 



(c) Write the plurals of the following: 

self ruby quarry buffalo 

folio motto chimney domino 

tax gas image process 
genus radius penny 

(d) Write six sentences, using the following nouns 
in the plural number : 

cousin-german teaspoonful man-of-war 

hanger-on son-in-law man-trap 



Gender. 

52. Gender is a distinction of a noun or pronoun 
in regard to sex. There are four genders : 

1. The masculine gender, denoting males ; as, man, 
boy, he. 

2. The feminine gender, denoting females; as, 
woman, girl, she. 

3. The common gender, denoting either males or 
females; as, parent, child, cousin, friend, they. 

Jf. The neuter gender, denoting neither males nor 
females; as, booh, desk, it. 



The word gender means hind, sort. 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 59 

Obs. I. — It should be remembered that gender pertains to 
words alone, while sex pertains to living beings. Hence, while 
there are but two sexes, naturally there may be four genders, 
viz.: One to signify males, one to signify females, one to signify 
either, and one to signify neither. 

Obs. II. — Most nouns in English do not indicate sex by their 
form. A few masculine and feminine endings occur — remnants of 
languages from which the nouns were derived ; as, hero, heroine; 
testator, testatrix; lad, lass, etc. Nouns have no neuter ending, 
and it is the only pronoun in the neuter form. 

53. Gender distinguishes sex — 

1. By difference of termination ; as, actor, actressy 
abbot, abbess/ tiger, tigress. 

2. By joining a distinguishing word ; as, man-servant, 
wai^-servant ; lie-goat, s7^e-goat ; Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown. 

8. By the use of different words ; as, man, woman; 
father, mother; bachelor, maid. 

Obs. I. — When the sexes are distinguished by different toords, 
or when the idea of sex is intended to be quite indefinite, the 
masculine gender is generally used to include both sexes. 

1. Man shall not live by bread alone. 

2. Every person should choose Ms occupation carefully. 

Obs. II. — Nouns naming inanimate objects, personified, are 
regarded as either masculine or feminine according to custom. 

1. The sun displays Ms splendor. 

2. The moon sheds lier silvery light. 

Obs. III. — Feminine endings are now less used than formerly. 
When it is unimportant to make a distinction of sex, they should 
be omitted. 

1. Miss Clinton is a doctor (not doctress). 

2. Charlotte Bronte was an author (not authoress). 



60 KNQuan grammar. 

Exercise. 

(a) Write answers to the following questions: 

What genders, are expressed by the form of nouns? 
What neuter form have pronouns ? By what different 
methods is gender distinguished ? To what does gender 
pertain ? To what does sex? 

(b) State the gender of each of the following nouns 
and mention its opposite gender : 

lass songster seamstress marchioness 

vixen hero czarina mistress 

teamster deacon heir cow-elephant 

empress monk duke administratrix 

hart bride stepson nanny-goal 

Case. 

54. Case is that form or use of a noun or pronoun 
which denotes its relation to other words. There are 
three cases — the nominative, the possessive, and the 
objective. Pronouns have distinct case forms for all cases. 
Nouns have only a possessive ending. 

55. The nominative case is the use of a noun or 
pronoun in the relation — 

/. Of subject, or attribute, of a proposition. 

Subject. Attribute. 

1. Liquids flow. 2. This is the ship of pearl. 

2. Of a noun or pronoun grammatically independent 
by address. 

S. father, I wanl that pony. 

//. The fault, dear Unit us. is not in <>ur stars. 

This case is called the nominative independent. 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 61 

Words used in address should be set off by a comma. 
See sentences 3 and 4 on the preceding page. 

3. Of a noun or pronoun grammatically independent, 
and modified by a participle. 

5. The ratio being given, find the related number. 

6. The battle having been lost, the king retreated to 

Oxford. 

7. The moon having risen, we departed. 

8. Things being helpless, patience must be used. 

9. Darkness coming on, we hastened home. 

This case, wherein the noun is absolved from its rela- 
tion as subject of a finite verb, is called the nominative 
absolute. 

56. The possessive case denotes the relation of 
ownership or origin. 

1. Mary's book is new. 

2. We study Gray's Botany. 

3. Napoleon's banishment was necessary. 

4. We keep buys' shoes. 

5. See the sun's rays ! 

6. Call at Bishop's for my suit. 

In each sentence above, point out the relation shown, 
whether of ownership or origin. 

57. Nouns are inflected to show relation only in the 
possessive case. Nouns in the objective case have the 
same form as in the nominative. The possessive case is 
formed — 

1. By annexing the apostrophe and 6' fs) to singular 
nouns, and to plural nouns not ending in s; as, man's 
house, men's hats, Burns's poems. 



62 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

2. By annexing the apostrophe (') only to plural 
nouns ending in s; as, boys' shoes, teachers' meeting. 

BS l._When the singular ends in s, or the sound of s, and 
the addition of a syllable would be harsh, most writers add the 
apostrophe only. In other cases the weight of authority favors 
the general rule, especially with trisyllables. 
/. We stood at Moses' seat. 

2. Help her for conscience' sake. 

3. Have you read Demosthenes' orations ? 

4. I made a study of Euripides' plays. 

The apostrophe marks the omission of an e which was formerly 
part of the possessive ending es in Anglo-Saxon. 

Obs. II. — Compound nouns place the possessive sign at the end ; 
as, brother-in-law's store, man-of-war's guns. 

Compound terms place the sign on the last term if common 
possession is implied ; on each, if the possession implied is not 
common but individual , as, Jones & Co.'* office, Grant's and 
Bragg"s armies. 

Obs. III. — The use of the possessive case is almost entirely 
confined to persons, personified objects, and animals. In the use 
of other nouns it is usually better to express possession by means 
of phrases. 

1. The arm of the chair (not the chair's arm). 

2. The color of the leaf (not the leaf's color). 

Obs. IV.— To avoid ambiguity, an absolute possessive* is some- 
times employed as the object of the preposition of. 

1. This is a picture of my sister's. 

2. That friend of yours has come. 

3. We had read a play of Shakspere's. 

In such cases the preposition denotes possession, while the 
object represents both the possessor and the thing possessed. 



* For fuller treatment of the absolute jmsessive, see Sec. 66. 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 63 

58. The objective case denotes the relation of — 

1. The direct object of a transitive verb, which names 
the object on which the action terminates. 

1. I study grammar. 

2. We saw the comet. 

3. He wrote a stwy. 

4. Has he a knife? 

2. The indirect object of a verb, which denotes that 
to or for which anything is or is done, or that from or 
out of which anything proceeds. 

5. I told Mm the truth. 

6. She gave me a promise. 

7. He asked her a question. 

8. We paid Mm his wages. 

3. The object of a preposition. 

9. Solitude is the nurse of wisdom. 

10. He lives in a cottage under the Mil. 



J,.. The adverbial object, limiting a verb, adjective, 
or adverb by denoting measure, time, weight, value, etc. 

11. Life is too short for mean anxieties. 

12. He weighed a hundred pounds. 

13. The channel is a mile wide. 

14. I saw her many years ago. 

5. The assumed subject of an infinitive. 

15. She requested me to read. 

16. I often asked her to sing. 

17. She urged us to study. 

Obs. — The objective case is the same in form as the nominative, 
except in a few pronouns. 



64 ENGLISH <! RAM MAR. 

Appositives. 

59. A nouu or pronoun used to identify, explain, 
or emphasize another noun or pronoun is put by appo- 
sition in the same case. Such nouns and pronouns are 
called appositives. 

1. Peter the hermit resembled Peter the apostle. 

2. I myself witnessed the inauguration. 

3. They assailed his, my brother's, honor. 

fy. The word touching is often a preposition. 

5. Lowell, the poet, lived in Cambridge. 

6. We met the culprits, a boy and a girl. 

7. Lincoln, as President, issued his proclamation of eman- 

cipation in the year 1864. 

8. Two boys advanced, namely. Guy and George. 

9. He used the words, ''poetry is the queen of arte " 

Ob8.— Appositives are emphasized by the use of the conjunc- 
tions as, namely, to wit, etc. Phrases and clauses are frequently 
used as appositives. 

1. The expression, "in the foremost files of time," is 

from Tennyson. 

2. Remember the motto, "Pay as you go." 

3. Don't forget the little keys, 

"I thank you, sir," and "If you please." 

Appositives consisting of more than one word are 
usually set off by commas. 

Exekcise. 

Construct sentences using a noun, (1) in the posses- 
Bive case, (2) as a direct object, (3) as an indirect object, 
(4) as the object of a preposition, (5) as an adverbial 
objective, (6) as an appositive. 



INFLECTION- NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 



65 



DECLENSION OF NOUNS. 

60. Nouns are declined to express number and case. 
The full declension is as follows: 



Singular. 


Plural. 


Singular. 


Plural. 


Nominative — man 


men 


boy 


boys 


Possessive — man's 


men's 


boy's 


boys' 


Objective — man 


men 


boy 


boys 


Nominative — lady 


ladies 


horse 


horses 


Possessive — lady's 


ladies' 


borse's 


horses' 


Objective — lady 


ladies 


horse 


horses 



Exercise. 



(a) 



Decline the following nouns: 




lad - farmer 


tailor 


girl merchant 


painter 



(b) Write the following nouns in the singular num- 
ber and possessive case : 



dog 


cousin 


fairies 


cat 


husband 


fox 


cow 


aunts 


birds 


oxen 


uncle 


soldier 


hens 


father 


enemy 



doctors 

(c) Classify the nouns in the following sentences, and 
mention the number and case of each : 

1. Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few 
would be poor. 

2. A setting sun should leave a track of glory in the skies. 

3. At St. Peter's the duke was made a king; the king an 
emperor. 

4. " Charge, Chester, charge ! On, Stanley, on! " 

Were the last words of Marmion. — Scott. 



66 JSNOLISII GRAMMAR 

5. By the court's decree be was compelled to make restitution 
of all his plunder — jewels, pieces of gold, works of art, and 
precious objects. 

6. Napoleon's troops fought in bright fields, where every 
helmet caught some beams of glory, but the British soldier 
conquered under the cool shade of aristocracy. 

7. His enemies closely dogging his footsteps, he managed to 
escape into the dark forest. 

S. Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is 
wholesome for the character. 

9. On his bold visage middle age 

Had slightly press'd its signet sage. 
Yet had not quench'd the open truth 
And fiery vehemence of youth: 
Forward and frolic glee was there, 
The will to do, the soul to dare — Scott. 

10. Every pine and fir and hemlock 

Wore ermine too dear for an earl, 
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree 
Was ridged inch-deep with pearl.— Lowell. 



DECLENSION OF PRONOUNS. 

61. The simple personal pronouns are declined to 
express person, number, gender, and case. The full 
declension is as follows: 

FIRST PERSON. SECOND PERSON. 

Singular. Old Form. Com. Form. 

Nominative — I thou you 

Possessive— mine, my thine, thy your, yours 

Objective— me thee you 

THIRD PERSON. 

Masculine. Feminine. Neuter. 
Nominative — he she it 



Possessive— his her, hers 

Objective— him her 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 



67 



FIRST PERSON. 

Plural. 

Nominative — we 
Possessive — our, ours 
Objective — us 



SECOND PERSON. THIRD PERSON. 

Plural. Plural of 

Old Form. Com. Form, all Three. 

ye you they 

your, yours your, yours their, theirs 

you you them 



Obs. I. — I is the only word in the English language which 
has six distinct case forms. 

Obs. II. — Thou, thy, thee, and ye are now seldom used except 
in poetry and in prayer. They are found in old writings — the 
Bible in particular. 

Mine and thine are often used for my and thy before words 
beginning with vowel sounds, as, mine iniquity, thine inheritance. 

It is also applied to human beings and animals, when sex is 
not considered. In such cases it has an indefinite, rather than a 
neuter, use. 

1. Poor child! how it suffers. 

2. I know it is she. 

3. The little canary sang its song. 



62. Compound personal pronouns 
indicate number only; as, 
Singular. Plural. 

myself ourselves 



thyself ) 
yourself j 



yourselves 



car. 
herself 
himself 
itself 



declined to 



Plural. 



themselves 



63. Of the simple relative pronouns, who and winch 
only are declined; as, 

Singular and Plural. Singular and Plural. 

Nominative — who which 

Possessive — whose whose 

Objective — whom which 

Wlwever and whosoever are declined like who. 



68 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

64. The adjective pronouns this and that arc inflected 

to express number: as. 

Singular — this Plural — these 

that those 

The adjective pronouns otic, other, and another have 
possessive forms like nouns; as, one's money, others 
faults. 

65. The pronoun should agree with its antecedent 
in person, number, and gender. 

I. K"/< plucked a rose from the bush and gave it to her aunt. 
.'. John says the lwuse which stands on the corner was built 

by his uncle. 
3. Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, 

Looking before and after, gave us not 

That capability and godlike reason 

To rust in us unused.— Suakspeke. 

Exercise. 

(r/) Select from the singular personal pronouns an 
appropriate pronoun for each of these blanks, and state 
the reason for the selection you make: 

1. She says that you and may go. 

„'. Let him not boast that puts his armor on, but that 

takes it off. 

3. It will make no difference to either you or . 

4. that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. 

5. "Who ate the oranges? It was . 

6. You and and will manage the affair. 

7. If I were I would resist. 

S. Was it that I saw? No. it was . 

9. If you will let George and sit together we shall be 

quiet. 

W. It is neither nor that is wanted. 

11. that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple. 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 69 

(b) Select from the plural personal pronouns an 
appropriate pronoun for each of the following blanks, 
and give the reason for your selection: 

1. That is wholesome doctrine for Americans. 

2. It is not but whom he seeks to please. 

3. Did you say that or were chosen ? 

4. She told Helen and boys to speak plainly. 

5. Let none touch it but who are clean. 

6. Could it have been who did the mischief? 

7. Whom did she call? girls. 



Absolute Possessive Pronouns. 

66. My, thy, her, our, your, and their limit nouns 
by denoting possession, and are always in the possessive 
case. 

My (thy or her) land is very valuable. 

When, however, the limited noun is omitted, they are 
changed to mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, and theirs, 
and are never in the possessive case. They represent 
both the possessor and the thing possessed, and being used 
independently of any noun, are called absolute posses- 
sive pronouns. In case they may be either nominative 
or objective. 

1. This watch is hers. (Nominative.) 

'2. Mine keeps perfect time. (Nominative.) 

3. We can not trust yours. (Objective.) 

4. The dials of theirs are white. (Objective.) 

For the sake of emphasis, my own, thy own, her own, 
etc., are used instead of mine, thine, etc., in which case 
the two are regarded as one word. 

5. This privilege is my own. 

G. Stand ! the ground's your own, my braves. 



70 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Parsing. 

67. Parsing a word consists — (1) in naming the 
part of speech ; (2) in telling its properties ; (3) in 
pointing out its syntax or relations to other words in 
the sentence or to the sentence itself. 

68. Nouns are parsed by stating their class, person, 
number, gender, case, and rule for construction. 

Model I. Maud is a good pupil. 

Maud is the name of a particular individual, spoken 
of; means but one, denotes a female, and is the subject 
of the sentence; hence it is a noun, proper, third person, 
singular number, feminine gender, and nominative case; 
used as the subject of the proposition. 

Pupil is a name, common to a class of objects, spoken 
of, means but one, denotes a female, and is the attribute 
in the predicate ; hence it is a noun, common, third 
person, singular number, feminine gender, and nomina- 
tive case; used as the attribute of the proposition. 

Note to the Teacher.— This method of requiring the pupil to give the reasons 
for each statement beforehand makes it necessary for him to think, and does not 
allow him to proceed by guessing. As soon, however, as the pupil is familiar with 
the reasons to be given, they should be omitted altogether. After facility has been 
gained in parsing a part of speech, only the difficult or unusual features need be 
noted or called for, and a short form employed. Mechanical parsing stultifies. 

Obs.— The syntax of a word is its function in the structure of 
a sentence — its relation to other words. The syntax of Maud in 
the above sentence may be stated thus: Maud is the subject of 
the verb is. 

A short form of parsing the words of a sentence consists in 
naming the part of speed) and giving the syntax ; as, Maud is a 
proper noun, subject of the verb is. 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 71 

Model II. The ship's crew abandoned the vessel. 

Grew is the name of a collection of objects, spoken of, 
means but one collection, denotes males, and is the subject 
of the sentence; hence it is a noun, collective, third 
person, singular number, masculine gender, and nomi- 
native case; used as the subject of the proposition. 

Ship's is a name, common to a class of objects, spoken 
of, means but one, denotes neither male nor female, and 
also possession; hence it is a noun, common, third person, 
singular number, neuter gender, and possessive case ; used 
to limit creiv. 

Vessel is a noun, common, third, singular, neuter, and 
objective case ; used as the object of abandoned. 

Short form : Ship's is a noun in the possessive case, 
limiting creiv. Grew is a collective noun, subject of the 
sentence. Vessel is a common noun, object of the 
sentence. 

Model III. Hope, the star of life, never sets. 

Hope is the name of an action considered apart from 
the actor, spoken of, means but one, denotes neither 
male nor female, and is the subject of the sentence; 
hence it is a noun, abstract, third, singular, nemter, and 
nominative case, the subject of the proposition. 

Star is the name common to a class of objects, spoken 
of, means but one, denotes neither male nor female, and 
limits hope by explaining what it is ; hence it is a noun, 
common, third, singular, neuter, and nominative case; 
used as an appositive to limit hope. 

Life is a noun, abstract, third, singular, neuter, and 
objective case; used as the object of of. 

Short form : Star is a common noun, nominative 
case, in apposition with hope. Life is an abstract noun, 
objective case, the object of of. 



72 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



Classify the following sentences as to form and as to 
use. Parse the nouns after the foregoing models: 

1. Our government is a federal republic. 
Henry's father is my uncle's brother. 

3. Veracity is the heart of morality. 

4. Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius. 

5. The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension 
waiting to be touched. — Emerson. 

6. Solitude at length grows tiresome. 

7. The ship will round the point with little difficulty. 

8. Men at some time are masters of their fates. 

0. As I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, the idea 
of writing the decline and fall of the city first started in my 
mind.— Gibbon. 

10. Grammar begins with the word and ends with the sentence. 
Grammar does not spell or pronounce words. The spelling-book 
and the dictionary are the recognized text-books for such service. 
— A. R. Sabin. 

11. Every note of good music leads the mind away from 
sound far up to thought, to rich memory, and precious hope. — 
Prof. David Swing. 

12. His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles. 

13. To Milton's blind eyes came no picture of the seasons, no 
sweet approach of eve or morn, "no sight of vernal bloom," "no 
flocks, no herds," no summer rose. — Prof. David Swing. 

V h Of the most delicate wine a man is sometimes tired; but 
water is eternally fresh and new, as welcome the thousandth time 
as the first. — Wm. Matthews. 

15. I am his highness' dog at Kew; 

Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you? — Pope. 

16. The stars shall lade away, the sun himself 
Grow dim with age, anil Nature sink in years; 
But tlxm shall flourish in immortal youth, 
Unhurt amidst the war of elements. 

The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds. —Addison. 



INFLECTION— NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 73 

69. Pronouns are parsed by stating their class, 
person, number, gender, and case. 

Model IV. All time is ours, and we should improve it. 

We is a pronoun, personal, first, plural, common 
gender, to agree with its antecedent understood, and 
nominative case; used as the subject of the proposition. 

It is a pronoun, personal, third, singular, neuter, and 
objective case, the object of should improve. 

Ours is a pronoun, absolute possessive, first, plural, 
common gender, to agree with its antecedent understood, 
and nominative case, the attribute of the proposition. 

Short form: We is a pronoun, nominative case, subject 
of should improve. It is a pronoun, objective case, 
object of should improve. Ours is an absolute possessive 
pronoun, nominative case, the attribute of the proposition. 

Model V. That watch is mine, not yours. 

Mine is a pronoun, absolute possessive, third, singular, 
common gender, to agree with its antecedent, and nomi- 
native case, the attribute of the proposition. 

Yours is parsed in a similar manner. 

Model VI. They who live well help those who come after. 

Wlio is a pronoun, relative, third, plural, common 
gender, nominative case, the subject of the clause who 
live well. As a connective, who joins its clause to its 
antecedent they. 

Those is an adjective pronoun, third, plural, common 
gender, objective case, the object of the verb help. 

Short form : Who is a relative pronoun, nominative 
case, subject of live. Those is an adjective pronoun in 
the objective case, object of help. 



74 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES. 

70. Many adjectives change their form to express 
different degrees of quality or quantity; as, 



soft 


softer 


softest 


good 


better 


best 


worthy 


less worthy 


least worthy 



That change of form by which adjectives express dif- 
ferent degrees of quality, quantity, or intensity is called 
comparison. 

71. There are three degrees of comparison: 

1. The positive degree, denoting the mere existence 
of a quality. 

1. Good men alone are great. 

2. He raised the old flag. 

3. Oxygen is not a dense medium. 
4- O sweet is the new violet ! 

2. The comparative degree, denoting a higher or 
a lower degree than the positive. 

5. This winter is colder than last. 

6. My lesson is longer than yours. 

7. Oxygen is less dense than carbon dioxide. 
S. Thought is deeper than all speech; 

Feeling deeper than all thought.— Cranch. 

S. The superlative degree, denoting the highest or 
the lowest degree of the quality. 

9. George is the tidiest boy in the class. 

10. Mary is the smallest girl in the class. 

11. Hydrogen is the least dense of gases. 



INFLECTION— ADJECTIVES. 



75 



The comparative degree is used when two objects or 
groups of objects are compared ; the superlative, when 
more than two are compared. 

12. Monday was colder than Sunday. 

13. Friday was the coldest day of the week. 

14. Tuesday and Saturday were the mildest days of the 

week. 

72. Most adjectives of one syllable are compared 
regularly by adding r or er to the positive to form the 
comparative; st or est to form the superlative; as, 



wise 


wiser 


wisest 


fair 


fairer 


fairest 


bold 


bolder 


boldest 



Most adjectives of more than one syllable are com- 
pared by placing before them the adverbs more or less 
for the comparative ; most or least for the superlative ; as, 



beautiful 

worthy 

severe 



more beautiful 
less worthy 
more severe 



most beautiful 
least worthy 
most severe 



73. The following adjectives are compared irregu- 
larly. They are chiefly adjectives in very common use, 
and should be carefully memorized : 



S° od [better 
well ) 


best 


bad [worse 
ill ) 


worst 


muc Mmore 
many ) 


most 


little less 


least 



fore former 



old 



far 



j older 
I elder 



farther 



(forth) I further 



first 

foremost 

nearest 

next 

oldest 

eldest 

farthest 

furthest 



76 K\<; I, ix 1 1 GRAMMAR. 

BS . I.— Older and oldest refer to persons or things. Elder 
and elde8t refer to persons of the same family, and are regarded 
as preferable to o&fer and oldest, unless they are followed by than. 

1. She is my elder sister. 

5. My sister is older than I am. 



Obs. II. — Farther refers to distance- further refers to some- 
thing additional. 

1. We took the farther road. 

2. We adduce a further reason. 

Obs. III.— Dissyllables that end in le, w, y, or ww, are usually 
compared like monosyllables ; as. 

able abler ablest 

narrow narrower narrowest 

merry merrier merriest 

handsome handsomer handsomest 

Some others may be so compared when they can be easily 

pronounced : as, 

pleasant pleasanter plcasantest 

common commoner commonest 

Obs. IV. — Strictly speaking, such adjectives as round, perfect, 
straight, square, true, eternal, express qualities that can not exist 
in different degrees, and can not be compared. When, however, 
they are used in a limited sense, they are comparable. Good 
writers defend the use of truer, rounder, etc., when not used in 
their full sense. 

J. This shell is rounder than that. 
8. A truer friend I never knew. 

Obs. V. — Some adjectives denoting place or situation are 
defective in one or two of the degrees; thus, further, hither, 
nether want the positive. Inferior, superior, extenor, posterior, 
prior, etc., have neither the positive nor the superlative. 



INFLECTION— ADJECTIVES. 



77 



Obs. VI. — Several adjectives in the superlative degree are 
formed by suffixing- most to up, upper, in, inner, hind, hinder, out, 
outer, further, top ; as, inmost, outermost, upmost, uppermost. 



1. I got into the inmost court.— Swift. 

2. The nightingale may claim the topmost bough. - 

3. How erect at the outermost gates 

Of the City Celestial he waits.— Longfellow. 



COWPER. 



Exercise. 



Write the comparison of the adjectives in the following 
list; construct sentences using the comparatives of six, 
and the superlatives of four of these adjectives : 



cheerful 


sincere 


fearless 


unkind 


nice 


grotesque 


mellow 


able 


pleasant 


honest 


amiable 


merry 


probable 


handsome 


complete 


precise 


dear 


precious 


perfect 


sad 



74. Adjectives are 
degree, and use. 



parsed by stating their class, 



Model I. High mountains are sublime. 

High modifies the noun mountains by denoting quality; 
compared — high, higher, highest; hence it is an adjective, 
qualifying, positive degree, and limits mountains. 

Sublime is a qualifying adjective ; compared — sublime, 
sublimer, sublimest; positive degree, and limits mountains. 

Short form: High is an adjective modifying moun- 
tains. Sublime is an adjective modifying mountains. 

Model II. What answer will you make? 
What is an interrogative adjective and limits ansiuer. 



78 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS. 

75. Many adverbs, especially those denoting man- 
ner, admit of comparison. They are compared like 
adjectives ; as, 



sunn 



sooner soonest 



brightly more brightly most brightly 

The office or syntax of an adverb is its use as a 
modifier of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. 

76. Adverbs are parsed by stating their class, degree, 
and use. 

Model: The wind blows fiercely. 

Fiercely limits a verb by denoting manner; compared — 
fiercely, more fiercely, most fiercely; hence it is an ad- 
verb of manner, in the positive degree, and limits bloivs. 

Short form : Fiercely, an adverb of manner, modify- 
ing blows. 

Exercise. 

Parse the nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs in 
the following sentences: 

1. We saw four beautiful white swans. 

2. A wise son maketh a glad father. 

3. Thomas is the second boy in a large class. 

4. The first pleasant day of spring came yesterday. 

5. The mystery will surely be explained before long. 

6. Yonder the flag once waved triumphantly. 

7. The snow falls so thickly we can not see far. 

S. That was the direst tragedy that ever challenged wonder. 
9. Eloquence is the adequate treatment of a great theme. 
10. Trust him little who praises all, him less who censures 
all, ami him hast who is indifferent to all.— Lavater. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 79 

11. Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea, 

Thy tribute wave deliver : 
No more by thee my steps shall be 
Forever and forever. 

But here will sigh thine alder tree, 

And here thine aspen shiver ; 
And here by thee shall hum the bee 

Forever and forever.— Tennyson. 

12. It ceased ; yet still the sails made on 

A pleasant noise till noon, 
A noise like of a hidden brook 

In the leafy month of June, 
That to the sleeping woods all night 

Singeth a quiet tune. — Coleridge. 



INFLECTION OF THE VERB. 

77. Verbs are inflected to express voice, mode, tense, 
person, and number. 

Some of these inflections are made by a change within 
the word, as write, wrote, while others are produced by 
the use of an auxiliary or helping word, forming a verb 
phrase, as may write, has written, was ivritten. 

Voice. 

78. Voice is that form of a transitive verb which 
shows whether the subject acts or is acted upon. There 
are two voices: 

1. The active voice, which represents the subject as 
acting. 

1. John struck James. 

2. Animals inhale oxygen. 

3. Cortez conquered Mexico. 

4. The teacher promised us a holiday. 



80 ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

.'. The passive voice, which represents the subject 

as acted upon. 

5. James was struck by John. 

6. Oxygen is inhaled by animals. 

7. Mexico was conquered by Cortez. 

<S'. A holiday was promised us by the teacher. 

Notice that the examples of the passive voice express 
the same thought as those of the active voice; also that the 
change from the active voice to the passive is effected, 
{a) by making the direct or sometimes the indirect 
object of the former the subject of the latter, and (b) 
by changing the form of the verb. 

Obs. I.— The passive form of a verb in any tense is formed 
by the use of its past participle with the verb be in that tense, as 
seen in sentences 5 to 8. 

The participle is a word having the signification of a verb, 
but the construction of an adjective or a noun. 

For treatment of the participle, see Sees. 107-114. 

Obs. II.— Whether a verb is transitive or intransitive may 
easily be decided by this test ; if transitive, it has two forms— 
active and passive. 

Obs. III. — An intransitive verb, in composition with a preposi- 
tion, becomes transitive, and may have a passive form; as, 

They despaired of his recovery. His recovery was despaired of. 

Obs. IV.— Distinguish between the passive form of a verb and 
the participle used as an adjective after the copulative verb be. 

Her mind ia cultivated, means the same as She has a cultivated 
mind, in which case cultivated is an adjective. 

Her mind was cultivated by stud//, means that it received culti- 
vation (an action) by a certain process, and hence was cultivated is 
a verb in the passive voice 



INFLECTION- THE VERB. 81 

Exercise. 

(a) Tell which verbs in the following sentences are 
active, and which passive; and name the subjects and 
objects of each: 

1. Great ships carry heavy burdens. 

2. He found the lost coin. 

3. Whitney invented the cotton gin. 

4.. The verses were written by Eugene Field. 

5. Aluminum is not corroded by air. 

G. The hills are affected by the erosion of wind and rain. 

7. The government should protect the Indians. 

8. The news will be carried by messengers. 

9. Congress has enacted a new tariff law. 

10. Gold is purchased for coinage by the government. 

11. Several writers have told the same story. 

(b) Construct sentences, using the verbs laughed at, 
smiled on, think of, and rely on, both transitively and 
intransitively. 

(c) Construct two sentences, illustrating the differ- 
ence between the passive form of the verb and the 
participle used as an adjective after the verb be. 

(d) Change the active verbs in the above sentences 
into passive, and the passive into active. 

(e) Write sentences using the following verbs, (1) in 
the active voice, (2) in the passive : 



see 


dig 


find 


win 


sell 


dive 


fear 


weave 


send 


draw 


fight 


write 


sing 


dress 


feed 


wear 



ENGLISH It A MMAR. 



Mode. 



79. Mode is that form of a verb which shows the 
manner in which the action, being, or state is asserted. 
There are four modes: 

1. The indicative mode, which asserts a thing as 
a fact or asks if it is a fact. 

1. Men are but children of a larger growth. 

2. What causes the alternation of day and night? 

3. I learn that he has gone. 

4. Though this seems improbable, it is true. 

This mode is used in propositions; also in clauses 
which denote what is actual or assumed as actual, as 
seen in sentence 4. 

2. The potential mode, which asserts a thing as 
possible, permissible, necessary, or obligatory. 

5. Henry can write. 8. We should study. 

6. George may sing. 9. He thinks that he can 

7. He must work. solve the problem. 

This mode is used both in propositions and in clauses. 

The potential mode is formed by placing one of the 
auxiliaries (helping verbs) may, can, must, might, could, 
woidd, or slioxdd before the infinitive of the main verb. 

The auxiliary asserts the action expressed by the 
infinitive. For the definition and treatment of the 
infinitive, see Sees. 115-119. 

3. The subjunctive mode, which is used in clauses 
to assert a thing not as a fact, but as merely thought of, 
or supposed when contrary to fact. 

10. If he apeak, will you listen ? 

11. I wish that I were at Bar Harbor. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 83 

This mode is usually introduced by the connectives if, 
though, unless, except, lest, that, etc. But the connec- 
tive is not a part of the verb, nor is the subjunctive 
mode always used after these conjunctions. 

The subjunctive mode may be used in conditional 
clauses to express — 

(a) A future contingency. 

12. If there be a will, wisdom will find a way. 

13. If he be convicted, his punishment will speedily 

follow. 

(5) A condition, considered uncertain or unreal. 

14. If I were you, I should study law. 

15. If he were honest, he would pay me. 

(c) A wish implying that the contrary is true. 

16. I wish that I were a musician. 

17. Would that he were here. 

(d) An intention unfulfilled. 

18. The order is that he go to Asia. 

19. The command was that the army advance. 



Obs.— Since conditionality is expressed by the conjunctions, 
the tendency of modern English is to drop the subjunctive mode, 
and to substitute therefor the indicative or the potential. Only 
in the verb be, and in the third person singular of the present 
tense of other verbs, does the subjunctive differ from the indica- 
tive in form; hence it can not be known frequently by its form. 
As the subjunctive is used to express fine shades of thought, its 
proper use should be cultivated. Observe the distinction between 
the indicative and the subjunctive in the following examples: 

1. If (as may be the case) he have money, he will give 

it freely. 

2. If (as is the case) he has money, he gives it freely. 



84 ENQLISH GRAMMAR. 

4. The imperative mode asserts a thing as a com- 
mand or an entreaty. 

1. Stand. Sit erect. 3. Ileal' me for my cause. 

2. Write these words. 4. Lead us not into temptation. 
5. Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight ! 

Make me a child again, just for to-night.— Akees. 

Obs. I.— As commands and entreaties are addressed to persons 
present and known, the subject is usually omitted. 

Obs. II.— Entreaties, like requests, are often made by using 
auxiliaries ; as, May we go to the beach ? The term imperative, 
however, is applied only to such verbs as allow the omission of 
the subject. 

Exercise. 

(a) Parse the nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the 
following sentences, and tell the mode of each verb: 

1. The fields of wheat were green. 

2. Find the cost of 18 chairs @ $1.87^ each. 

3. Henry, you may read the next paragraph. 

4. Go to the ant, thou sluggard ! Consider her ways and be 

wise. 

5. Go to the tool-chest and fetch me the hammer. 

6. The mails must not be delayed. 

7. Love your enemies, and bless them that curse you. 

8. If I were older, I could run faster. 

9. If my brother had been there, he would not have spoken 

thus. 

10. If God be with us, who can be against us? 

11. I shall not reprove him, except it be for his good. 

12. Be gentle ! The sea is held in check, not by a wall of 

brick, but by a beach of sand. 

13. May one be pardoned and retain the offense ? 

14. No price is set on the lavish summer; 

June may be had by the poorest comer.— Lowell. 

15. Sleep and rest, sleep and rest, 

Father will come to thee soon.— Tennyson. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 85 

16. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou 
Shouldst lead me on ; 
I loved to choose and see my path, but now 
Lead thou me on. — Newman. 

(b) Write sentences, using the indicative mode of the 
following verbs, some in questions, some in clauses: 

come drink give study 

choose drive go think 

see feel smell taste 

(c) Write sentences, using the potential mode of the 
following verbs: 

live watch wait grow 

earn hear find ring 

fall build fly sing 

(d) Write sentences, using the imperative mode of the 
following verbs: 

give send do think 

take carry dare study 

obey read be go 

(e) Write in your own words what you have learned 
of mode. 

Tense. 

80. Tense is that form of a verb that expresses 
the time of the action, being, or state. There are six 
tenses — three that denote time indefinitely, called absolute; 
and three that specify more definitely the completion of 
an action, called relative. The names of the tenses are 

as follows : 

Tenses. 

Absolute. Relative. 

1. The present. 2. The present perfect. 

3. The past. J h The past perfect. 

5. The future. 6. The future perfect. 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



81. The present tense expresses action, or being, 

stiifp in nvpspnt, time. 



or state in present time 



1. He now teaches history. 

2. I am taught grammar. 

3. The sun shine* by day. 

4. How fast they do learn! 

In the indicative, active, the sign of this tense is the 
simple form of the verb, the root-verb; in the potential 
the sign of this tense is may, can, or must, preceding 
the root-verb or infinitive. 



Obs. I. — This tense is often used to describe more vividly a 
past event, ana when so used it is called the historical present. 

1. Napoleon then moves forward the right flank. 

2. The bear comes on apace ; we grasp our guns. 

Obs. II.— This tense is sometimes used to denote future time, 
to correspond with a future event. 

1. The goods will be forwarded as soon as he receives 

them. 

2. The orator will speak when the audience is seated. 



82. The present perfect tense expresses action 
or being as completed at the present time. 

1. She has taught music for years. 

2. We have been taught better things. 

3. The army has returned in triumph. 

4. He may have found a better way. 

The signs of this tense in the indicative mode are 
have, has, or hast, preceding the perfect participle; in 
the potential, may have, can have, or must have, preced- 
ing the perfect participle. See examples above. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 87 

83. The past tense expresses action or being as 
wholly past. 

1. He taught grammar. 3. He saw the stars. 

2. Grammar was taught. 4- You should see the stars. 

The signs of this tense in the indicative mode are d 
or ed affixed to the root when the verb is regular; in 
the potential, might, could, would, or should, preceding 
the root or pure infinitive. 

For list of the irregular verbs, see Sec. 105. 



84. The past perfect tense expresses action or 
being as completed in the past. 

1. I had taught. 4. He could have gone. 

2. I had been taught. 5. He had been in Honolulu 

3. The train had arrived. many years. 

The signs of this tense in the indicative mode are 
had or hadst (poetical and archaic) preceding the past 
participle; in the potential, might, could, would, or 
should have, preceding the pure perfect infinitive. See 
examples above. 

85. The future tense expresses action or being 
as yet to come. 

1. I shall or will teach. 4. He shall or will sail. 

2. I shall or will be taught. 5. By what express shall I 

3. You shall or toill write. send the watch? 

The signs of this tense are shall or will preceding 
the root or infinitive. 



Obs. — The potential mode, naturally, can not be used in the 
future tense. 



88 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

86. The future perfect tense expresses action or 
being as completed in the future. 

1. I slutll or will have taught. 

2. I shall or will have been taught. 

3. Henry shall or will have written. 

4. Before our arrival the sun will have risen. 

5. Too soon the leaves will Jiave 



The signs of this tense are shall have or will have 
preceding the perfect infinitive. 



Obs.— The tenses of the passive voice are formed by the tenses 
of the verb be, followed by the past participle of the principal verb. 
See Conjugation, Sec. 98. 

Exekcise. 

(a) Construct sentences, using the present tense of 
the following verbs — some in the indicative mode and 
some in the potential : 

hear listen see live 

was cried sang taught 

came went grew staid 

(b) Construct sentences, using the present perfect 
tense of each of the followiug verbs : 

be sit lend send 

do fly buy teach 

lie learn begin see 

(c) Construct sentences, using the past tense of each 
of the following verbs — eight in the indicative mode, 
four in the subjunctive : 



dash 


set 


feed 


make 


sit 


use 


fold 


catch 


fly 


hold 


bring 


speak 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 89 

(d) Construct sentences, using the past perfect tense 
of the following verbs — six in the indicative mode, two 
in the subjunctive : 



see paint grow 

know strike sleep take 

(e) Construct sentences, using the future tense of 
each of the following verbs : 

read win think respond 

travel beat linger set 

(/) Construct sentences, using the future perfect 
tense of each of the following verbs : 



fly drive lead 

dream flee spend leave 

(g) State the present tense of each of the following 
verbs : 

bereft drest gilt shod 

chid forsook lay shone 



Tenses in All the Modes. 

87. The indicative mode has six tenses : The present, 
present perfect, past, past perfect, future, and future 
perfect. 

The potential mode has four tenses : The present, 
present perfect, past, and past perfect. 

The subjunctive mode has six tenses, the same as the 
indicative; but it has separate forms in only two — the 
present and the past — and is now seldom used in other 
than these two tenses. 

The imperative mode has one tense — the present. 



90 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

88. In the potential mode the name of the tense 
does not always indicate the time of the action or being 
expressed. Notice the following: 

1. The present teuse denotes present possibility, per- 
mission, necessity, or obligation to perform an act either 
present or future. 

1. We may (now) call (now). 

2. We may (now) call (to-morrow). 

2. The present perfect tense usually denotes present 
possibility, etc., that a past act was performed. 

3. We (may or must) have called (yesterday). 

4. He (may or must) have seen the comet. 



8. The past tense denotes : 

(a) A past possibility, etc., to perform an act. 

5. Can you sing? I could sing yesterday. 

6. Shall I sing? You should sing. 

(b) A custom or habit. 

7. He would be absent a month at a time. 

8. She icould be present on every occasion. 

9. It would sing the live-long day. 

(c) A universal duty without reference to time. 

10. Every citizen should obey the laws. 

11. All men should defend the right. 

12. Judges should be merciful. 

(d) A future possibility, etc. 

13. If I should come, would you welcome me? 

14. Should I come, I shall write. 

15. If he sliauld study, he could learn. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 91 

(e) Present possibility, etc., when followed by a con- 
ditional clause. 

16. I might or could call if I would. 

17. I should or would call if I could. 

Would and might are now seldom, if ever, used to 
express past time. 

4. The past perfect tense denotes a past possibility, 
etc., and usually implies the non-performance of an act. 

18. I should have called (yesterday) had you desired it. 

19. We could have called (yesterday) if you had 

desired it. 

89. In the subjunctive mode tense does not indicate 
with exactness the time of the action expressed. Notice 
the following : 

1. The present implies an act or being in future time. 

1. If I icalk I shall start early. 

2. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. 

2. The past implies present time. 

3. If I were going I should ride. 
A. I would that he were here. 



Regular and Irregular Verbs. 

90. The different inflections a verb may take to 
express various meanings are all based upon three dis- 
tinct forms, called the principal parts. These are : 
(1) the present indicative ; (2) the past indicative, and 
(3) the past participle. 

The primitive or stem of these is the present indica- 
tive, first person, singular; as, go, work. This is the 



92 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

form of the present infinitive with to omitted — (to) go, 
(to) work. The verb am or be is peculiar. It is made 
up of three Anglo-Saxon roots, and either the infinitive 
be or the present indicative am may be considered the 
stem. 

Most verbs form their first and second parts regularly, 
by the addition of d or ed to the stem. Many verbs, 
however, especially those derived from Anglo-Saxon roots, 
form these parts irregularly. According to their method 
of forming the past tense and past participle, verbs are 
classified as : 

1. Regular verbs, those whose past tense and past 
participle are formed by adding d or ed to the root (the 
present infinitive); as, 



Indicative. 
live 


Past. 
lived 


Past Participle. 
lived 


gain 
count 


gained 
counted 


gained 
counted 



2. Irregular verbs, those whose past tense and past 
participle are not formed by adding d or ed to the root; 



Present Indicative. 


Past. 


Past Participle. 


write 


wrote 


written 


see 


saw 


seen 


eat 


ate 


eaten 



Auxiliary and Defective Verbs. 

91. Auxiliary verbs, or helping verbs, are those 
used in the conjugation of other verbs. The auxiliary 
verbs are : 

Present -am do have shall will may can must 
Past— was did bad should would might could 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 93 

As auxiliaries, they have the forms of the present 
and past tenses only, except be, which is used as an 
auxiliary in all its parts. 

Obs. I. — A verb combined with mode or tense auxiliaries is 
called a verb-phrase. 

Obs. II. — Do, be, have, and will are used also as principal 
verbs, and, as such, take auxiliaries before them. 

1. The officer had done his duty. 

2. I shall be ready. 

3. We have had pleasant weather. 

4. She may will us her estate. 

Obs. III. — Negation is made by using not with the principal 
verb. 

1. I will give. (Affirmation.) 

2. I will not give. (Negation.) 

In the simple form the negative not is placed after the verb; 
in the compound form, after the auxiliary. 

3. I thought not. 
4- I did not think. 



92. The mode auxiliaries are may, can, and must, 
also might, could, would, and should. 
For Conjugation, see Sec. 100. 

May expresses a possibility, permission, or wish. 

1. The letter may come to-day. 

2. Mother says that I may go. 

3. May you be happy. 



Can expresses ability. 



4. He can read Latin. 

5. Can you hear the music? 



94 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Must expresses necessity or obligation. It is past or 
present according to the time expressed by the infinitive 
with which it is used. 

6. Citizens must obey the law. 

7. They must have read the message. 

8. Man must subdue the lightning before it will bear 

his messages. 

Might and could, the past tenses of may and can, 
follow the rules for the uses of may and can. Might 
expresses possibility or desire, and could expresses ability. 
9. He might work. 11. Oh, that he might come ! 

10. He could work. 12. Would that I could go. 

93. The tense auxiliaries are have, shall, and will. 
Have is used to form the present perfect and the past 
perfect tenses, and (with shall or toill) the future perfect 
tense. 

For Conjugation, see Sec. 100. 

Shall, in the first person, expresses simple futurity. 

1. I shall prepare my composition next. 

Shall, in the second and third persons, expresses 
promise, compulsion, or threat. 

2. You shall have the tickets to-night without fail. 

3. The court decides that the prisoner shall be released. 

4. He shall rue the day. 

Will, in the first person, expresses intention, purpose, 
or determination ; in the second and third persons, simple 
futurity. 

5. I will not fail. 

6. I will pay you. 

7. We will have our just rights. 

8. You will fail unless you work. 

9. He will call to-morrow. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 95 

Should and would, the past tenses of shall and will, 
follow in general the rules for the uses of shall and will 
— should implies duty, and would implies inclination or 

desire. 

10. All men should pay their debts. 

11. This man would pay his debts. 

Obs. I. — In questions use shall or will, according as the for- 
mer or the latter would be correctly used in the reply. Thus, if 
a promise is sought, use will; if a mere prediction, use shall. 

1. Will you dine with us? I will. 

2. Sliall you dine at the hotel? I shall. 

Obs. II. — Will I or will ice is quite inelegant, as the speaker 
is assumed to know his own intentions. 

Obs. III. — Shall and should are used with the second and third 
persons to express the same idea that is set forth by the original 
speaker; as, 

1. You say that you shall win the prize. 

2. She declared that she should, win the prize. 

Obs. IV. — Shall and should are used with all three persons in 
clauses of condition, time, purpose, etc., as, 

1. Though I should die, yet will I not deny thee. 

2. Call on me whenever you shall come this way. 

3. He watched lest he should fall into temptation. 

4. Where imperfection shall cease, heaven will begin. 



94. The form-auxiliaries are be and do. 

Be as an auxiliary is used to make the progressive 
form of the verb. 

1. I am thinking. 4. If he be thinking. 

2. You were thinking. 5. They have been thinking. 

3. He is thinking. 6. We sliall have been thinking. 



96 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Do as an auxiliary is used to make the emphatic form 
of the verb. 

7. I do study. 9. He does remember. 

8. You did write. 10. Do j'ou remember? 

Be is both a voice and a tense auxiliary. It is used 
to change the active voice to the passive, and to make 
the different tenses of the progressive form of the verb. 

11. I teach. 13. He teas teaching. 

12. I am taught. 14. I am being taught. 

95. Defective verbs are those which lack one or 

more of their principal parts. The following is a partial 
list of them: 

Present. Past. Participle. 

may might 

shall should 

will would 

can could 

must 

quoth 



ought 



Obs.— An impersonal verb is one whose subject it is indefinite. 

1. It lightens. 3. It thunders. 

2. It seems true. 4. It appears so. 

Exercise. 
(a) Parse the nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the 
following sentences, and explain the use of shall and 
will in each: 

1. My son will give you my answer to-morrow. 

2. Yes, my friend, your request will be granted. 

3. The weather report announces that we shall have 

rain to-morrow. 

4. You shall have as much money as you need. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 97 

5. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make 

you free. 

6. I myself will see that your orders are executed. 

7. We shall regret losing our good neighbor. 

8. I stand for judgment ; answer, shall I have it ? 

9. We regret that we shall lose this opportunity. 
10. He regrets that you will lose this opportunity. 

(b) Bead the following sentences, filling the blanks 
with the proper auxiliaries, shall or will: 

1. I help you to-morrow. 

2. You obey me. 

3. I start in the morning. 

4. I am sure you help me. 

5. 1 hear from you soon ? 

6. you be in your office to-morrow? 

7. When we have rain again? 

8. lie not attend our party. 

9. We attend to the matter soon. 

10. They feel my power. 

(c) Write three sentences in the negative form; 
change them to affirmations. 

(d) Write four sentences in the emphatic form; then 
change them to the common form. 

(e) Write three sentences illustrating the correct use 
of shall in the first person; in the second; in the third. 
Give a reason for each use. 

(/) Write three sentences illustrating the correct use 
of will in the first person ; in the second ; in the third. 
Give a reason for each use. 

(g) Write four sentences illustrating the proper use 
of should and would — two for each. Give reason for 
each use. 

7 



98 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(h) Write six sentences illustrating the correct use 
of may, can, must — two for each. 

(t) Write three sentences illustrating the use of might 
and could. 

Person and Number. 

96. Person and number of the verb are inflec- 
tions which show its agreement with the subject. As 
in the case of nouns and adjectives, modern English has 
few inflections to indicate person and number, as com- 
pared to the classical languages or old English. Like 
their subjects, verbs have two numbers and three persons. 
A few of their inflections are as follows : 

1. The first person singular, and the first, second, 
and third persons plural of all verbs (be excepted) in the 
indicative present, are alike, and are the root-verb. 

1. I give my money. 

2. We give our money. 

3. You give your money. 

4. They give their money. 

2. The second person singular adds est or st to the 
root of the verb, or to its auxiliary. 

5. Thou givest thy money. 

6. Thou mayst give thy money. 

This form now occurs only occasionally in poetry, and 
very rarely (as in prayers) in what may be called the 
archaic style of prose. The usual form for the second 
person singular is the same as for the second person 
plural — you give. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 99 

S. The third person singular adds es, s, or eth to 

the root. 

7. He gives his money. 

8. He holds his money. 

9. He gwetfA his money. 

4. Verbs in the past tense have no s forms. The 
same form is used with both singular and plural subjects, 
for all persons, except in the archaic or poetic style, when 
thou requires the addition of st. 

10. I gave my money. 

11. We gave our money. 

12. They gave their money. 

13. Thou gavest thy money. 

For other number and person forms, see Conjugation, 
Sec. 100. 

Parsing. 

97. Verbs are parsed by stating their form, class, 
voice, mode, tense (with its inflection), person, and number. 

Model : I think I would stay if I were you. 

Think asserts action, does not form its past tense and 
perfect participle by the addition of d or ed, requires 
the addition of an object to form a definite predicate — 
that is, it represents the subject as acting, asserts a thing 
as actual, denotes present time, and agrees with its sub- 
ject in number and person; hence it is a verb, regular, 
transitive, active voice, indicative mode, present tense — 
/ think, thou thinkest, he thinks; we, you, or they 
think — first person, singular number, to agree with its 
subject /. 

Would stay is a verb ; irregular, intransitive, potential 
mode, past tense, first person, singular number, to agree 
with its subject /. 



100 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Would stay may also be parsed as follows : Would 
is an irregular, intransitive verb; indicative mode, past 
tense, first person, and singular number, to agree with 
its subject /. Stay is an intransitive infinitive, used 
with would to form a potential verb-phrase. 

Were is a verb; irregular, intransitive, subjunctive 
mode, past tense, first person, singular number, to agree 
with its subject /. 

Short form : Think is a verb, the predicate of I. 
Would stay is a verb, the predicate of /. Were is a verb, 
the predicate of I. 

Exercise. 

(a) Write sentences in the indicative mode, using 
the following words with the tense, person, and number 
indicated : 

1. give — Present, first, singular. 

2. see — Past, second, singular. 

3. do — Present perfect, third, singular. 

4. take — Past perfect, second, singular. 

5. speak — Future perfect, first, plural. 

6. think — Past perfect, second, singular. 

7. eat — Future perfect, first, singular. 

8. know — Present, first, singular. 

9. go— Past perfect, second, plural. 
10. come — Future, third, singular. 

(b) Parse the nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, 
and verbs in the following sentences: 

1. Mental power can not be got from ill-fed brains. 

2. When a mere child he strayed a-bird's-nesting, from his 
grandmother's house, in company with a cow-boy. the dinner 
hour elapsed; he was absent, and could not be found; and the 
alarm of the family became very great, for they apprehended 
that he might have been carried off by gypsies. At length, after 
search had been made for him in various directions, he was dis- 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 101 

covered, alone, sitting composedly by the side of a brook which 
he could not get over. "I wonder, child," said the old lady, 
when she saw him, "that hunger and fear did not drive you 
home." — "Fear! grandmamma," replied the future hero, "I never 
saw fear: what is it?" — Southey. 

S. As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I 
lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and I laid me down 
in that place to sleep: and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I 
dreamed, and, behold, I saw a man clothed with rags, standing 
in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in 
his hand, and a great buiden upon his back. I looked, and saw 
him open the book and read therein; and, as he read, he wept, 
and trembled; and, not being able longer to contain, he brake 
out with a lamentable cry, saying: "What shall I do?" — John 
Bunyan. 

4. God Almighty first planted a garden. And, indeed, it is 
the purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest refreshment to 
the spirits of man, without which buildings and palaces are but 
gross handy-works. — Bacon. 

5. And because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the 
air (where it comes and goes like the warbling of music) than in 
the hand, therefore, nothing is more fit for that delight than to 
know what be the flowers and plants that do best perfume the 
air. —Bacon. 

6. Out spoke the victor then 

As he hail'd them o'er the wave, 
"Ye are brothers! ye are men! 
And we conquer but to save : — 
So peace instead of death let us bring: 
But yield, proud foe, thy fleet 
With the crews, at England's feet, 
And make submission meet 
To our King." — Campbell. 

7. Thou has left behind 

• Powers that will work for thee, — air, earth, and -skies! 
There's not a breathing of the common wind 
That will forget thee ; thou hast great allies ; 
Thy friends are exultations, agonies, 
And love, and man's unconquerable mind.— Wordsworth. 



102 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

8. The quality of mercy is not strain'd, 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest : 
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 
Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes 
The throned monarch better than his crown; 
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 
The attribute to awe and majesty, 
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; 
But mercy is above this sceptred sway, 
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 
It is an attribute to God himself ; 
And earthly power doth then show likest God's, 
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 
Though justice be thy plea, consider this, 
That in the course of justice none of us 
Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy ; 
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
The deeds of mercy.— Shakspere. 

CONJUGATION. 

98. The conjugation of a verb is the correct ex- 
pression of its modes, tenses, voices, persons, and num- 
bers. In order to conjugate a verb correctly we must 
know its principal parts, which are the present indica- 
tive, the past indicative, and the past participle; as, 

Present Indicative. Past Indicative. Past Participle. 
be or am was been 

see saw seen 

find found found 

love loved loved 

Conjugation of the Verb Be. 

99. PRINCIPAL PARTS. 

Present Tense. Past Tense. Perfect Participle. 

am was been 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 



103 



INDICATIVE MODE. 





PRESENT 


TENSE. 






Singular. 




Plural. 


1. 


I am. 




We are. 


2. 


You are. 




You are. 


3. 


He is. 




They are. 




PRESENT 


PERFECT. 




Singular. 




Plural. 


1. 


I have been. 




We have been. 


2. 


You have been. 




You have been. 


3. 


He has been. 




They have been 




PAST TENSE. 






Singular. 




Plural. 


1. 


I was. 




We were. 


2. 


You were. 




You were. 


3. 


He was. 




They were. 




PAST PERFECT. 






Singular. 




Plural. 


1. 


I had been. 




We had been. 


2. 


You had been. 




You had been. 


3. 


He had been. 




They had been. 




FUTURE 


TENSE. 






Singular. 




Plural. 


1. 


I shall be. 




We shall be. 


2. 


You will be. 




You will be. 


3. 


He will be. 




They will be. 




FUTURE 


PERFECT. 




Singular. 




Plural. 


1. 


I shall have been. 




We shall have been. 


2. 


You will have been. 




You will have been. 


3. 


He will have been. 




They will have been. 




POTENTIAL MODE. 




PRESENT 


TENSE. 






Singular. 




Plural. 


1. 


I may be. 




We may be. 


2. 


You may be. 




You may be. 


3. 


He may be. 




They may be. 



104 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



PRESENT PERFECT. 



1. I may have been. 

2. You may have beeD. 

3. He may have been. 

PAST TENSE. 

Singular. 

1. I might be. 

2. You might be. 

3. He might be. 

PAST PERFECT. 

Singular. 

1. I might have been. 

2. You might have been. 

3. He might have been. 



Plural. 
We may have been. 
You may have been. 
They may have been. 

Plural. 
We might be. 
You might be. 
They might be. 

Plural. 
We might have been. 
You might have been. 
They might have been. 



SUBJUNCTIVE MODE. 





PRESENT 


TENSE. 




Singular. 


Plural. 


1. 


If I be. 


If we be. 


2. 


If you be. 


If you be. 


3. 


If he be. 


If they be. 




PAST TENSE. 




Singular. 


Plural. 


1. 


If I were. 


If we were. 


2. 


If you were. 


If you were. 


3. 


If he were. 


If they were. 




IMPERATIVE MODE. 




PRESENT 


TENSE. 




Singular. 


Plural. 


Be 


, or be thou. 


Be ye or you. 




Infinitives. 


Participles. 


Present 


tense — To be. 


Present — Being. 


Present 


perfect — To have been. 


Past — Been. 
Perfect— Having been. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 105 

100. Synopsis is a short view of a verb, showing its 
forms through the modes and tenses in a single number 
and person. The following is the synopsis of the verb 
be in the first person and singular number : 

INDICATIVE MODE. 

Present — I am. 

Present perfect — I have been. 
Past — I was. 

Past perfect — I had been. 
Future — I shall be. 

Future perfect — I shall have been. 

SUBJUNCTIVE MODE. 

Present — If I be. Past — If I were. 

POTENTIAL MODE. 

Present — I may be. 

Present perfect — I may have been. 
Past — I might be. 

Past perfect — I might have been. 

Conjugation of the Verb Love. 

ACTIVE VOICE. 

101. PRINCIPAL PARTS. 

Present Tense. Past Tense. Perfect Participle. 

love loved loved 

INDICATIVE MODE. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I love. We love. 

2. You love. You love. 

3. He loves. They love. 

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I have loved. Wc have loved. 

2. You have loved. You have loved. 

3. He has loved. They have loved. 



106 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

PAST TENSE. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I loved. We loved. 

2. You loved. You loved. 

3. He loved. They loved. 

PAST PERFECT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I had loved. We had loved. 

2. You had loved. You had loved. 

3. He had loved. They had loved. 

FUTURE TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I shall love. We shall love. 

2. You will love. You will love. 

3. He will love. They will love. 

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE. 

Singular. Pluial. 

1. I shall have loved. We shall have loved. 

2. You will have loved. You will have loved. 

3. He will have loved. They will have loved. 

POTENTIAL MODE. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I may love. We may love. 

2. You may love. You may love. 

3. He may love. They may love. 

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. I may have loved. We may have loved. 

2. You may have loved. You may have loved. 

3. He may have loved. They may have loved. 

PAST TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. I might love. We might love. 

2. You might love. You might love. 

3. He might love. They might love. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 



107 



PAST PERFECT TENSE. 





Singular. 


Plural. 


1. 


I might have loved. 


We might have loved. 


2. 


You might have loved. 


You might have loved. 


3. 


He might have loved. 


They might have loved. 




SUBJUNCTIVE 


MODE. 




PRESENT TENSE. 




Singular. 


Plural. 


1. 


If I love. 


If we love. 


2. 


If you love. 


If you love. 


3. 


If he love. 


If they love. 




PAST TENSE. 




Singular. 


Plural. 


1. 


If I loved. 


If we loved. 


2. 


If you loved. 


If you loved. 


3. 


If he loved. 


If they loved. 



IMPERATIVE MODE. 
tar. Plural. 

Love, or do thou love. Love, or do ye or you love. 

INFINITIVES. 

Present — To love. Present perfect — To have loved. 

PARTICIPLES. 

Present — Loving. Perfect — Loved. Compound — Having loved. 



Synopsis of the Verb Love. 

PASSIVE VOICE. 

102. The passive voice is conjugated by placing 
before the perfect participle the various forms of the 
verb be. indicative mode. 

Present — I am loved. 

Present perfect — I have been loved. 

Past — I was loved. 

Past perfect — I had been loved. 

Future — I shall be loved. 

Future perfect — I shall have been loved. 



108 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

POTENTIAL MODE. 

Present— I may be loved. 

Present perfect — I may have been loved. 
Past— I might be loved. 

Past perfect— I might have been loved. 

SUBJUNCTIVE MODE. 

Present— If I be loved. 

Past— If I were loved. 

IMPERATIVE MODE. 

Present — Be loved, or be thou loved. 

INFINITIVES. 

Present— To be loved. 

Present perfect — To have been loved. 

PARTICIPLES. 

Present— Being loved. 

Perfect — Loved. 

Compound — Having been loved. 



Forms of Conjugation. 

103. There are four forms of conjugation : 

1. The common form, which expresses an act in- 
definitely, or as done without reference to its progress; 
as, / write. 

2. The progressive form, which expresses the 
action, being, or state in progress ; as, / am writing. 

3. The emphatic form, which expresses an act with 
emphasis ; as, / do write. 



INFLECTION— TEE VERB. 109 

J+. The interrogative form, used in asking ques- 
tions ; as, Write I? Did I ivrite ? Have I written ? 

Obs. — The progressive form places the various forms of the 
verb be before the present (active) participle. The emphatic form 
places do or did before the principal verb. 

104. Following are the synopses of the verb love: 
1. Progressive form : 

INDICATIVE MODE. 

Present — I am loving. 

Present perfect — I have been loving. 
Past — I was loving. 

Past perfect — I had been loving. 
Future — I shall be loving. 

Future perfect — I shall have been loving. 

POTENTIAL MODE. 

Present — I may be loving. 

Present perfect — I may have been loving. 
Past — I might be loving. 

Past perfect — I might have been loving. 

IMPERATIVE MODE. 

Present — Be thou loving. 

INFINITIVES. 

Present — To be loving. Present perfect — To have been loving. 

PARTICIPLES. 

Present — Loving. Compound — Having been loving. 



Emphatic form 



INDICATIVE MODE. 

Present — I do love. Past — I did love. 

IMPERATIVE MODE. 

Present — Do thou love. 



110 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. Interrogative form : 

INDICATIVE MODE. 

Present— Love I? Do I love? Am I loving? 

Present perfect — Rave I loved? Have I been loving? 

Post— Loved I? Did I love? Was I loving? 

Past perfect— Had I loved? Had I been loving? 

Future— Shall I love? Shall I be loving? 

Future perfect— Shall I have loved? Shall I have been loving? 

POTENTIAL MODE. 

Present— Must I love? 

Present perfect — Must I have loved? 
Past— Might I love? 

Past perfect— Might I have loved? 

Exercise. 

Write a synopsis of the verbs teach, see, move, and 
take in the indicative and potential modes, active and 
passive voices. 

List of Irregular Verbs. 

105. The following list contains the principal parts 
of most of the irregular verbs. Those marked R have 
also the regular forms ; those in italics are rare. 

One class of these verbs, like buy, bought, bought, etc., 
either with or without change in stem, add t to form 
the past tense and j)ast participle. 

Another class change the final consonant to tj as, 
lend, lent, lent, etc. 

A third class have all three principal parts alike; as, 
cut, cut, cut, etc. 

Many have the second and third parts alike, but dif- 
ferent from the first ; as, feed, fed, fed, etc. 

A large number add n or en to the first or second 
to form the third root; as, break, broke or broken, etc. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 



Ill 



Some are most irregular, having no underlying prin- 
ciple of formation ; as, go, went, gone, etc. : 



Present. 


Past. 


Past Par. 


Present 


Past. 


Past Par. 


abide 


abode 


abode 


choose 


chose 


chosen 


am 


was 


been 


cleave 
(to split) 

cleave 


( cleft 


cleft 


arise 
awake 


arose 
awoke.R 


arisen 
j awaked 
\ awoke 


-j clove, R 
( clave 
( cleaved 


cloven 
cleaved 






(to 


\ 


cleaved 


bear 


S bore 

\ bare 


born 


adhere) 


( clave 








cling 


clung 


clung 


bear (to 
carry) 


S bore 
{ bare 


borne 


clothe 


clad, R 


clad, R 


j beaten 
( beat 


come 


came 


come 


beat 


beat 


cost 


cost 


cost 




( began 
j begun 




creep 


crept 


crept 


begin 


begun 


crow 


crew, R 


crowed 


bend 


bent, R 


bent, R 


cut 


cut 


cut 


bereave 


bereft, R 


bereft, R 


dare 


durst, R 


dared 


beseech 


besoughtR besoughtR 


deal 


dealt 


dealt, R 


bet 


bet, R 


bet, R 


dig 


dug, R 


dug, R 




jbid 
j bade 


bidden 


do 


did 


done 


bid 


bid 


draw 


drew 


drawn 


bind 


bound 


bound 


dream 


dreamt, R dreamt, R 


bite 
bleed 


bit 
bled 


j bitten 
1 bit 
bled 


dress 
drink 


drest, R 

j drank 
| drunk 


drest, R 
( drank 
< drunk 


bless 


blest, R 


blest, R 




( drunken 


blow 


blew 


blown 


drive 


drove 


driven 




j broke 
I brake 




dwell 


dwelt, R 


dwelt, R 


break 


broken 


eat 


ate 


eaten 


breed 


bred 


bred 


fall 


fell 


fallen 


bring 


brought 


brought 


feed 


fed 


fed 


build 


built, R 


built, R 


feel 


felt 


felt 


burn 


burnt, R 


burnt, R 


fight 


fought 


fought 


burst 


burst, R 


burst, R 


find 


found 


found 


buy 


bought 


bought 


flee 


fled 


fled 


cast 


cast 


cast 


fling 


flung 


flung 


catch 


caught 


caught 


fly 


flew 


flown 


chide 


chid 


S chidden 
}chid 


forbear 
, forsake 


forbore 
forsook 


forborne 
forsaken 



112 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



Present. 


Past. 


Past Par. 


Present. 


Past. 


Past Par. 


freeze 


froze 


frozen 


meet 


met 


met 


get 


got 


< got 

/ gotten 


mow 


mowed 


mown, R 


pay 


paid 


paid 


gild 
gird 


gilt, R 
girt, R 


gilt, R 
girt, R 


p i e ,X>H' B 


pent, R 


give 


gave 


given 


put 


put 


put 


go 


went 


gone 


quit 


quit, R 


quit, R 


grave 


graved 


graven 


rap 


rapt, R 


rapt. R 


grind 


ground 


ground 


read 


read 


read 


grow 


grew 


grown 


rend 


rent 


rent 


*hang 


hung, R 


hung, R 


rid 


rid 


rid 


have 


had 


had 


ride 


rode 


ridden 


hear 
heave 


heard 
hove, R 


heard 
hove, R 


ring 


(rang 
(rung 


rung 


hew 


hewed 


hewn, R 


rise 


rose 


risen 


hide 


hid 


j hidden 
i hid 


rive 
run 


rived 
ran 


riven, R 
run 


hit 


hit 


hit 


saw 


sawed 


sawn, R 


hold 


held 


(held 
\ holden 


say 
see 


said 
saw 


said 
seen 


hurt 


hurt 


hurt 


seek 


sought 


sought 


keep 


kept 


kept 


seethe 


seethed 


sodden, R 


kneel 


knelt, R 


knelt, R 


sell 


sold 


sold 


knit 


knit, R 


knit, R 


send 


sent 


sent 


know 


knew 


known 


set 


set 


set 


lade 


laded 


laden, R 


shake 


shook 


shaken 


lay- 


laid 


laid 


shape 


shaped 


shapen, R 


lead 


led 


led 


shave 


shaved 


shaven, R 


lean 


leant, R 


leant, R 


shear 


sheared 


shorn, R 


leap 


leapt, R 


leapt, R 


shed 


shed 


shed 


leave 


left 


left 


shine 


shone, R 


shone, R 


lend 


lent 


lent 


shoe 


shod 


shod 


let 


let 


let 


shoot 


shot 


shot 


lie(recline) lay 


lain 


show 


showed 


shown, R 


light 


lit, R 


lit, R 


shred 


shred 


shred, R 


lose 


lost 


lost 


shrink 


( shrunk 
j shrank 


shrunk 


make 


made 


made 


shrunken 


mean 


meant 


meant 


shrive 


shrove, R 


shriven, R 



to take life, is regular : "A man was hanged yesterday. 



INFLECTION— THE VERB. 



113 



Present 


Past. 


Past Par. 


Present 


Past. 


Past Par. 


shut 

sing 


shut 
(sang 
( sung 


shut 

sung 


strew 
stride 


strewed 
strode 


j strewn 
( strown, R 
stridden 


sink 


j sunk 
\ sank 


sunk 


strike 


struck 


j struck 
j stricken 


sit 


sat 


j sat 

( sate 


string 


strung 


strung 


strive 


strove 


striven 


slay 
sleep 


slew 
slept 


slain 
slept 


swear 


j swore 
( sware 


sworn 






j slidden 
( slid 


sweat 


sweat, R 


sweat, R 


slide 


slid 


sweep 


swept 


swept 


sling 


slung 


slung 


swell 


swelled 


swollen, R 


slink 


slunk 


slunk 


swim 


j swam 
( swum 


swum 


slit 


slit 


slit, R 






smell 


smelt, R 


smelt, R 


swing 


j swung 

/ swang 

took 


swung 


smite 


j smote 
( smit 


smitten 
smit 


take 


taken 


sow 


sowed 


sown, R 


teach 


taught 


taught 


speak 


J spoke 
( spake 


spoken 


tear 


j tore 
j tare 


torn 


speed 


sped, R 


sped, R 


tell 


told 


told 


spell 


\ spelt 
] spelled 


spelt 


think 


thought 


thought 


spelled 


thrive 


\ thrived 
j throve 


thriven 


spend 


spent 


spent 






spill 


spilt, R 


spilt, R 


throw 


threw 


thrown 




j spun 
( span 
( spit 
( spat 




thrust 


thrust 


thrust 


spin 
spit 


spun 
spit 


tread 
wake 


trod 
woke, R 


j trodden 
(trod 
woke, R 


split 


split 


split 


wax 


waxed 


waxen, R 


spoil 


spoilt, R 


spoilt, R 


wear 


wore 


worn 


spread 
spring 


spread 
j sprang 
( sprung 


spread 
sprung 


weave 
weep 


wove 
wept 


j woven 

( wove 

wept 


stand 


stood 


stood 


wet 


wet, R 


wet, R 


stave 


stove, R 


stove, R 


whet 


whet, R 


whet, R 




j staid 
( stayed 


staid 


win 


won 


won 


stay 


stayed 


wind 


wound, 


~t wound 


steal 


stole 


stolen 


work 


wrought,R wrought,R 


stick 


stuck 


stuck 


wring 


wrung 


wrung 


sting 


stung 


stung 


write 


wrote 


written 



114 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

VERBALS. 

106. A verbal is a word or phrase derived from a 
verb which expresses action without asserting it. 

Verbals have the signification and governing power 
of a verb, but the construction of some other part of 
speech. They may be either participles or infinitives. 

1. Hearing my call, he came to assist me. 

2. Endeavor to employ every good opportunity. 

The Participle. 

107. A participle is a verbal having the construc- 
tion of a noun or an adjective. 

1. Walking is a healthful exercise. 

2. Error, wounded, writhes with pain. 

With respect to form, participles are classed as : 

1. Simple, consisting of a single word ; as, loving, 
loved; seeing, seen. 

2. Compound, consisting of a single participle com- 
bined with the auxiliaries being, having, or having been; 
as, being seen, having seen, having been seen. 

108. Participles are also classed as present, past, or 
perfect, and when formed from transitive verbs, as active 
or passive. The participles of the verb love are : 

*■**{£!? (being loved 

< loved Compound \\ ? avm ^ ] oyed , 

J having been loved 

\ having been loving 
Present. Past. Perfect. 

Active— loving loved having loved 

Passive — being loved loved having been loved 



VERBALS. 115 

The present participles end in ing and denote the 
continuance of action, being, or state; as, 

hearing being heard 

pleasing being pleased 

trusting being trusted 

The past and perfect participles usually end in d, t, 

or n, and denote the continuance of action, being, or 
state ', as, 

Past. Perfect. 

lived having lived 

sent having sent 

seen having seen 

109. Participles, because of their verb-signification, 
have the same modifiers, objects, and attributes as the 
verb. Thus they may have — 

1. Adverbial modifiers. 

1. The torrent came rushing madly on. 

2. The mountain brooks went babbling by. 

3. The aged preacher stood leaning on his staff. 

4. They were fighting where "every helmet caught some 

gleams of glory." 

2. Objective modifiers (objects). 

5. Saving time is lengthening life. 

6. Hoping to meet you, I did not write. 

7. Having learned that he was sick, I visited him. 

3. Attributes (nouns, adjectives, or clauses). 

8. Being a stranger, he was not admitted. 

9. Having become captain, he assumed command. 

10. Being weary, all withdrew for rest. 

11. Having been ill, he could not be present. 

12. Being what he was, the officer could not be bribed. 



116 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

110. When employed as mere names of actions or 
conditions, or of occupations, participles lose most of 
their verb-signification and are called abstract nouns. 

As such they may be limited — 

1. By an adjective. 

1. Correct writing means correct thinking. 

2. Fast driving is forbidden in the park. 

2. By a possessive. 

3. I was not informed of her coming. 

4. The boy's singing was good ; Ms reading, perfect. 

A participle, combined with its modifier or attribute, 
is called a participial phrase. 

Exercise. 

(a) Mention the subject and predicate of each exam- 
ple in the foregoing two sections; also the modifiers 
and attributes of the participles there found. 

(b) Construct or find sentences illustrating each kind 
of participle modifier and attribute. 

111. The participle (or participial phrase) may be 
used as a noun or an adjective. As a noun it may be — 

1. The subject of a verb. 

1. Skating is a delightful recreation. 

2. Listening to music is a charming diversion. 

2. The attribute in the predicate. 

3. Love is the fulfilling of the law. 

4- A sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier 
things.— Tennyson. 



VERBALS. 117 

3. The object of a transitive verb. 

5. We enjoy sailing on the lakes. 

6. We dread crossing the ocean. 

7. Children enjoy playing dominoes. 

%.. The object of a preposition. 

8. True worth is in being, not seeming. 

9. The habit of smoking tobacco is pernicious. 

10. I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my 
desires rather than in attempting to satisfy them. 
— John Stuart Mill. 



112. As an adjective., the participle may — 

1. Limit a noun or pronoun. 

1. The stars twinkling in the heavens are Night's gems. 

2. Truth crushed to earth shall rise again. 

3. He saw them laying the corner stone. 

4. I heard him singing in the parlor. 

2. Be the attribute in the predicate. 

5. Her manners are pleasing and winning. 

6. The paper is soiled and torn. 

7. The statue lay buried for centuries. 

8. To me it seems 



113. As an adverb, a participle is sometimes used — 

1. To limit an adjective. 

1. The day is freezing cold. 

2. The water is boiling hot. 

3. The men were fighting mad. 

Obs. — Although this usage was originally colloquial, it has 
long since become standard. 



118 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

2. To limit a verb (by denoting concomitant action). 

U. The Son of Man came eating and drinking. 

5. The mighty rocks come bounding down. 

6. Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, 

Comes dancing from the East. — Milton. 

3. In combination with a noun or pronoun in the 
absolute construction, to limit a verb by denoting time, 
cause, or some attendant circumstance. 

7. The clock having struck six, we arose. (Time.) 
S. Darkness coming on, we hurried home. (Cause.) 

9. We crossed the river, the wind blowing furiously. 
(Circumstance.) 

Obs. I. — The present participle, combined with auxiliaries, is a 
verb-phrase making the progressive form of the verb; the past 
participle thus combined is a verb-phrase making the passive 
voice of the verb. 

1. We have been writing letters. 

2. Letters were written by us. 

Obs. II.— Participles habitually used as modifiers of nouns 
are called participial adjectives. 

1. We visited a ruined castle. 

2. Sweet is the air with budding haws. 



EXEBCISK. 

(a) Mention the subject and predicate of each example 
in the foregoing three sections ; also the use of each par- 
ticiple there found. 

(b) Construct or find sentences illustrating each of 
the uses of the participle. 



VERBALS. 119 

114. Participles are parsed by stating their class, 
voice (if transitive), and use. 

Model I. He is occupied in teaching music. 

Teaching is a simple, transitive participle, active voice. 
It is used as a noun, third person, singular number, 
neuter gender and objective case, object of the prepo- 
sition in. 

Model II. Truth crushed to earth shall rise again. 

Crushed is a simple, transitive participle, passive voice, 
used as an adjective to limit the noun truth. 

Model III. She came running to me. 

Running is a simple, intransitive participle, used as 
an adverb, and modifies came. 

Exercise. 

Mention the subjects and predicates, and parse the 
participles in the following : 

1. A penny given willingly is worth a pound given grudgingly. 

2. The spider spinning his web was an inspiration to Bruce. 

3. A scant weight of sugar was bought from the passing 

peddler. 

4. In praising a man, avoid injuring him. 

5. Interest is money paid for the use of money. 

6. A sloop was loitering in the distance, dropping slowly down 

with the tide, her sail hanging uselessly against the 
mast. — Irving. 

7. Our slender life runs rippling by, and glides 

Into the silent hollow of the past. — Lowell. 

8. Then shook the hills with thunder riven; 
Then rush'd the steed to battle driven; 
And louder than the bolts of heaven 

Far tiash'd the red artillery. — Campbell. 



120 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The Infinitive. 

115. An infinitive is a verbal having the con- 
struction of a noun, adjective, or adverb. 

1. To work is to win. 

2. All have honors to win. 

3. They work to win honors. 

The simple infinitive consists of the root-verb, before 
which to is generally used; other infinitives are compound. 

The tense and voice classifications of the infinitive are 
seen in the following from the verb hear : 



Active. Passive. 

;ar 
to be hearing 
to have heard 
to have been hearing 



Present \ t0 hear . to be heard 

( to be heanng 

Present perfect \ *° ? ave J*"* . to have been heard 



116. Infinitives, because of their verb-signification, 
have the same modifiers and attributes as the verb. 
Thus they may have — 

1. Adverbial modifiers. 

1. To work hard is to win soon. 

2. Harry learned to write in sclvool. 

3. He intends to go when the boat arrives. 

2. Objective modifiers. (Objects.) 

4. To pay our debts should be a pleasure. 

5. The cuckoo tried to steal a nest. 

6. To do his friends a favor was his delight. 

7. He appears to know what you wish. 

8. I shall try to remember what I read. 



VERBALS. 121 

3. Attributes. (Nouns, pronouns, or adjectives.) 

9. Clay was urged to become a candidate for president. 

10. It appears to be he. 

11. To be honest was his purpose. 

12. We think it to be of no value. 

An infinitive with or without modifiers is called an 
infinitive phrase. 

13. He loves to read. 

14. He loves to read Tennyson. 

Exercise. 

(a) Mention the subject and predicate of each of the 
foregoing examples ; also the modifiers and attributes 
therein found. 

(b) Construct sentences illustrating the various kinds 
and forms of infinitive modifiers and attributes. 



117. An infinitive may be used as a noun, an 
adjective, or an adverb; as a noun it may be used — 

1. As the subject of a sentence. 

1. To err is human, to forgive divine. 

2. To live in hearts we leave behind 

Is not to die. — Campbell. 

2. As the attribute in the predicate. 

. 3. To see is to believe. 

4. Its wing appears to be broken. 

5. He seems to have recognized me. 

6\ To doubt her fairness were to want an eye, 
To doubt her pureness were to want a heart. 

— Tennyson. 



122 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

8. As the object of a verb. 

7. The boys love to skate. 

8. Learn to labor and to wait. 

9. He promised never to reveal the secret. 

10. I begin to understand your motives. 

4. As the object of a participle. 

11. Fearing to do wrong is commendable. 

12. Expecting to see you, I did not write. 

13. Hoping to meet you, I have remained at home. 

5. (Combined with an assumed subject) as the object 
of a verb. 

14. We expect him to come. 

15. She directed her jmpils to sing. 

16. He ordered the bridge to be turned. 

6. (With an assumed subject after for) as subject or 
attribute. 

17. For a Briton to boast is proverbial. 

18. His order is for you to advance. 

19. It is wise for us to make the attempt. 

7. As the object of a preposition. 

20. He is about to retire from office. 

21. None knew thee but to love thee, 

Nor named thee but to jrraise. — Halleck. 

8. As an appositive — either directly or as the real 
subject to explain the provisional subject it. 

22. Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought. 

23. It is always best to speak the truth. 

24. Case 3. To find the area of a circle. 



VERBALS. 123 

Obs. — The to of the infinitive is omitted — 

(a) After bid, dare, let, make, feel, see, hear, and sometimes 
after need. 

1. I dare not go into the storm. 

2. We saw him pull the rope. 

3. Hear the chimes ring. 

4. She need not go so soon. 

5. Need he return at once? 

(6) After the auxiliaries, to form the potential mode and the 
future tenses. 

6. I can go at once. 

7. May they write to-day? 

8. Shall we write to-morrow? 

118. As an adjective, the infinitive may be used — 

1. To limit a noun. 

1. The capacity of air to hold vapor varies with its temper- 

ature. 

2. Time hath his work to do, and we have ours. 

2. As an attribute. 

3. Such conduct is to be condemned (is contemptible). 

4. Gold is to be found in Alaska (is findable). 

5. She appears to haw lost her friends (friendless). 

119. As an adverb, the infinitive may express pur- 
pose, result, degree, or cause, and may thus limit — 

1. A verb. 

1. We went to see the statuary. (Purpose.) 

2. The king is come to marshal us, all in his armor drest. 

2. An adjective. 

3. He is anxious to succeed in business. (Cause.) 

4. I am delighted to see you. (Cause.) 

5. They had finally saved enough to build their home. 

(Degree.) 



124 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. An entire sentence. 

G. To speak plainly, every man has bis faults. 
7. To say the least, his conduct of affairs was commend- 
able. 
S. To tell the truth, we do not study as we ought. 

Used in this way, infinitives are often called independ- 
ent elements. While they are grammatically independent, 
such infinitives generally modify the whole sentence after 
the manner of the modal adverb. 

Exercise. 

(a) Mention the subject and predicate in each of the 
foregoing examples, also the use (syntax) of all infinitives 
found therein. 

(b) Write sentences illustrating the various uses of 
the infinitive described in the foregoing sections. 

120. Infinitives are parsed by stating their class and 
use. 

Model I. To deceive is criminal. 

To deceive is a simple, transitive infinitive, active, 
used as a noun, the subject of the sentence. 

Model II. A desire to visit Europe is common. 

To visit is a simple, transitive infinitive, active, used 
as an adjective to limit the noun desire. 

Model III. We study to learn. 

To learn is a simple, transitive infinitive, used as an 
adverb to limit the verb study. 



VERBALS. 125 

EXERCISE. 

Mention the subject and the predicate in each of the 
following examples and parse the infinitives : 

1. To retreat was difficult; to advance, impossible. 

2. Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie. 

3. Mabel has gone to see the paintings. 

4. I shall be pleased to make his acquaintance. 

5. It is noble to see truth, and it is beautiful to find it. 

6. It is well to think well ; it is divine to act well. 

7. Laws are made to protect the innocent by punishing the 

guilty. 

8. If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot 
him on the spot. — John A. Drx. 

9. They well deserve to have 

That know the strongest and surest way to get. 

— Shakspere. 

10. She walks the waters like a thing of life 

And seems to dare the elements to strife. — Byron. 

11. To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish 
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.— Shakspere. 

12. We ought to hear at least one little song every day, read 
a good poem, see a first-rate painting, and, if possible, speak a few 
sensible words. — Goethe. 

13. Some very excellent people tell you they dare not hope. 
To me it seems much more impious to dare to despair. 

— Sydney Smith. 
14- The weather was dry, the sky was cloudless, the blue 
depths seemed to express types of infinity; and it was not possible 
for eye to behold or for heart to conceive any symbols more 
pathetic of life and the glory of life. — De Quincey. 

15. I longed to wander over the scenes of renowned achieve- 
ment — to tread, as it were, in the footsteps of antiquity; to loiter 
about the ruined castle; to meditate on the falling tower; to 
escape, in short, from the commonplace realities of the present, and 
lose myself among the shadowy grandeurs of the past.— Irving. 



126 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

PHRASES. 

121. A phrase is a group of words having neither 
subject nor predicate, and used as a part of speech. 

1. To think is a mental exercise. 

2. The cliffs along the river are steep. 

3. There are no accidents in tlie providence of God. 

122. According to their structure, phrases are classi- 
fied as : 

1. Prepositional phrases, consisting of a preposi- 
tion and its object. 

1. Labor is but refreshment from repose. — J Montgomery. 

2. Fame is the thirst of youth. — Byron. 

3. He wreathed the rod of criticism tcith roses. — Disraeli. 

2. Participial phrases, consisting of a participle 
combined with a modifier or attribute. 

4. Hunting the bear is wild sport. 

5. The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew. — Scott. 

6. Governments are instituted among men, deriving tlieir 

just powers from the consent of the governed. 
— Jefferson. 

3. Infinitive phrases, consisting of an infinitive 
used either alone or combined with an attribute. 

7. They refused to release the prisoner. 
S. To be absent is not to be forgotten. 

0. It is difficult to grow old gracefully. — Mme. de Stael. 

123. Phrases are classified according to form, as : 
1. The simple phrase, one that has no modifier. 

1. Deeds are the pulse of time.— George Eliot. 

2. The couriers came with speed. 



PHRASES. 127 

2. The complex phrase, one modified by some other 
element. 

3. No man can be wise on an empty stomach. 

— George Eliot. 

4. One must be poor to know the luxury of giving. 

— George Eliot. 

5. Life is a festival only to the wise. — Emerson. 

3. The compound phrase, one composed of two or 
more simple or complex phrases united by a connective. 

6. We sought Mm on the hills and in the valleys. 

7. We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; 

In feelings, not in figures on a dial. — Bailey 

124. According to their office, phrases are classified 
as : 

1. Substantive phrases, which perform the office 
of a noun. 

1. To study is to improve. 

2. Being honorable is true nobility. 

3. It is better to live rich than to die rich. — Boswell. 

2. Adjective phrases, which perform the office of 
an adjective. 

4. Leaves have their time to fall. 

5. Thy gates are all of orient pearl. 

6. Contempt of fame begets contempt of virtue. 

— Ben Jonson. 

3. Adverbial phrases, which perform the office of 
an adverb. 

7. Beauty is the mark God sets on virtue. — Emerson. 
S. Are navies necessary to protect our coasts? 

9. Men at some time are masters of their fates. 

— Shakspere. 



128 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Parsing the Preposition. 

125. Prepositions are parsed by stating their class, 
what they coainect, and between what terms they show 
relation. 

Model: In all you do, proceed according to law. 

In is a simple preposition connecting its object all 
with the verb proceed, and showing the relation between 
them. 

According to is a phrase preposition connecting its 
object law with the verb fnvceed, and showing the rela- 
tion between them. 



(a) Classify the phrases in the following sentences 
and parse the prepositions : 

1. The world globes itself in a drop of dew. — Emerson. 

2. The world exists for the education of each man.— Emerson. 

3. Will the line stretch out to the crack of doom? — Shakspere. 

4. To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a 

velvet sheath. — George Eliot. 

5. What's the best news with you? — Til Holcroft. 
G. A halter made of silk's a halter still. — Clbber. 

7. War is afire struck in the Devil's tinder-box. — Howell. 

S. 'Tis time to fear, when tyrants seem to kiss. — Shakspere. 

9. There's a dance of leaves in that aspen bower; 
There's a twitter of wind in that beechen tree; 
There's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower, 
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea. 

— Bryant. 



GLAUSES. 129 

(b) Construct phrases as follows : Four prepositional, 
two participial, and three infinitive; three simple, two 
complex, and two compound ; two substantive, three 
adjective, and two adverbial. 



CLAUSES. 

126. A clause is a group of words having a sub- 
ject and predicate, and used as a part of speech. 

1. That all men might be free was Lincoln's desire. 

2. He who works wins. 

3. Come as the winds come. 

4. "They come," was the shout along the lines. 

5. The question is, Are we all ready? 

6. Remember those whose hearts are sad. 

7. Can you tell why the tides rise and fall ? 

8. If Jove stray who dare say, Jove doth ill? 

The component parts of a clause are the subject, pred- 
icate, and subordinate connective. A few noun clauses, 
either quoted or used in the sense of quotation, are 
employed without a connective, as in sentences 4 and 5. 
Subordinate connectives are : 

1. Pure conjunctions, those used merely to con- 
nect, as that in sentence 1. 

2. Relatives and interrogatives, those having a 
pronominal as well as a connective office, as who in 
sentence 2. 

S. Conjunctive adverbs, those having an adverbial 
as well as a connective office, as as in sentence 3. 



130 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

127. According to their office in the sentence, 
clauses are classified as: 

1. Substantive, those used as nouns. 

1. What pleases you will please me. 

2. The rumor is thut war is coming. 

3. We shall never know wJio wrote the letter. 

4. How plants grow we now understand. 

5. I know not why she spoke so tenderly. 

The connectives employed are that and the interrog- 
atives who, when, how, where, wherein, etc. 

2. Adjective, those having the force of adjectives. 

6. He who runs may read the head-lines. 

7. She gave all that she had. 

S. Our journey, which was very pleasant, ended too soon. 

9. The scenery to which you refer is beautiful. 

10. The petition concerning which you spoke has come. 

11. I remember distinctly the spot where he stood. 

The connectives employed are the relatives who, which, 
that, and as. 

3. Adverbial, those having the force of adverbs. 

12. Wlun bad men combine, the good must associate. 

13. Where boasting ends, there dignity begins. 
14- Whither thou goest I will go. 

15. We must hasten, as a storm is coming. 

1G. Because life is short, we act quickly. 

17. He works as though he enjoyed his art. 

IS. She studies as if study were a pleasure. 

The connectives employed are when, where, while, as, 
as if, as though, etc. 



CLAUSES. 131 

128. According to their form, clauses are classified 
as : 

1. Simple, those in which no element is modified 
by a clause. 

1. Strike whilst the iron is hot. 

2. Think before you leap. 

2. Complex, those in which some element is modi- 
fied by a clause. 

3. He said that he would go if he could. 

4. That he will go when he is able is certain. 

3. Compound, those composed of two or more 
clauses coordinately united. 

5. Can you tell when the war will begin or when it 

will end? 

6. I know neither why you go nor why he stays. 

7. When he will go and she will come is not known. 

8. Optimists say that life is a flower and that love is 

its perfume. 

Conjunctions in Clauses. 

129. We have seen in Sec. 41 that conjunctions 
are words used to unite sentences or parts of sentences. 
While nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, phrases, or clauses 
express certain organic parts of a thought, conjunctions 
express merely the relation and connection of those parts 
with each other. They are links which unite various ele- 
ments of thought into a unit of expression — a sentence. 

Thus coordinate conjunctions may unite — 

1. Words. 

1. My pen and ink are poor. 

2. Rain or snow will come. 

3. Go not now, but to-morrow. 



132 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

2. Phrases. 

4. I sought him in Chicago and in Boston. 

5. We advanced with care, but with courage. 

6. Our actions are known both on earth and in heaven. 

S. Propositions or clauses. 

7. Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. — Pope. 
S. Art may err, but Nature can not miss. 

9. I know neither why he came nor why he went. 

130. Subordinate conjunctions unite clauses with 
propositions, or with the words which the clauses modify. 
Thus they may unite — 

1. Substantive clauses with propositions or words. 

1. That he was a traitor is evident. 

2. We knew that he was a traitor. 

2. Adjective clauses with the nouns or pronouns 
which they limit. 

3. This is the letter to which you referred. 

4. It was the time when lilies bloom. 

3. Adverbial clauses with the words which they limit. 

5. When pain ends, gain ends, too. 

6. Unless you come. I shall not go. 

131. Conjunctions are parsed by stating their class 
and office in the sentence. 

Model I. Father and mother will meet us either in Boston or 
in Cambridge. 

And is a coordinate conjunction and connects the 
nouns father and mother. 



WORDS OF DOUBLE USE. 133 

Either is an alternative conjunction, and with its 
correlative or connects the phrases in Boston and in 
Cambridge. 

Model II. Come as the waves come when 
Navies are stranded. — Scott. 

As is a subordinate conjunction, connecting the clause 
as the ivaves come with the verb come, and modifying 
come (in clause). 

When is a subordinate conjunction, connecting the 
clause when navies are stranded with the verb come, and 
modifying are stranded. 



WORDS OF DOUBLE USE. 

132. Certain words in English perform, at the same 
time, two offices in the syntax of the sentence in which 
they are used. These words of double use include 
relative pronouns, conjunctive adverbs, and possessives. 

133. Relative pronouns are equivalent to and he, 
and it, or and they; thus they perform the office of 
conjunction and of pronoun. They represent a sub- 
stantive, and connect with it a limiting clause. In con- 
struction the relative pronoun may be — 

1. The subject of a clause. 

1. I overtook a man who (and he) was blind. 

2. The object of a verb. 

2. I know whom I have believed. 

3. The object of a preposition. 

3. I saw the boat in which he sailed. 



134 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Jf. A possessive modifier of a noun. 

4. This is the bird wliose wing was broken. 

5. A gentle stream whose murmuring wave did play. 

6. He trod the water, 

Wwse enmity he flung aside.— Shakspere. 

Obs. I.— In this last use the relative limits a noun by denoting 
and has three 



Obs. II.— The double relative what is equivalent to that -f 
which; thus it represents that as an antecedent and which as a 
relative. In construction ichat may be the equivalent of — 

1. A connective and two nominatives. 

1. This is what (that which) he is. 

2. A connective and two objectives. 

2. I have what (that which) I sought. 

3. A connective, a nominative, and an objective. 

3. Law is what (that which) he fought for. 

134. Conjunctive adverbs are words that perform, 
at the same time, the office of a conjunction and of an 
adverb. Their double use is seen in the following equiva- 
lent sentences : 

1. This is the ground where our heroes fell. 

2. This is the ground on which our heroes fell. 

The conjunctive adverb where in sentence 1 does the 
connective work of the relative which in sentence 2, and 
thus connects a modifying clause with the word ground 
in the proposition ; where also does the work of the 
phrase on which, and thus modifies the verb fell in the 
clause. 

Conjunctive adverbs are equivalent to certain phrases, 
as at what time, in what place, in what manner, for 



WORDS OF DOUBLE USE. 135 

what reason, and to what extent, and thus modify the 
verb in the clause by denoting time, place, manner, cause, 
or degree. 

Care is often necessary to determine whether a con- 
nective is a pure conjunction or a conjunctive adverb. 
This is the test : If it merely connects a clause with a 
proposition, it is a conjunction ; if, besides connecting 
a clause, it modifies adverbially some word therein, it is 
a conjunctive adverb. 

3. I shall remain until he comes. 

4. I shall go when he comes. 

The following are employed as conjunctive adverbs : 



as wherein 


while 


why whereon 


whither 


how wherefore 


whenever 


Exercise. 





(a) Parse the conjunctive adverbs in the following 
sentences : 

1. Where God hath a temple, the Devil will have a 

chapel. — Burton. 

2. Can you explain why you invert the divisor? 

3. We are under bright stars wherever we go. 

4. I can not see wherein you err. 

5. We will go whithersoever you lead. 

6. He whistled as he went for want of thought. 

7. When the fight begins within himself 

A man's worth something. — Browning. 

(b) Construct six sentences, using in each a different 
conjunctive adverb. 



136 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(c) Construct sentences, using after, before, unless, 
because, and since as subordinate conjunctions; and state 
the difference between the conjunctive adverb and the 
subordinate conjunction. 

135. Possessives are words that perform, at the 
same time, the office of a substantive and of an adjective. 
They are nouns and pronouns in the possessive case. In 
their noun office they are modified like other nouns by 
adjectives ; in their adjective office they modify nouns 
by denoting ownership, origin, or fitness. 

1. The old lady's arm-chair is now vacant. 

2. His hair was white, but not with years. 

3. Our good deeds will outlive their good words. 

4. By the bird's song ye may learn the nest. — Tennyson. 

5. A man's best things are nearest him, 

Lie close about Ma feet. — Lokd Houghton. 

Exercise. 

(a) Parse the possessives in the above sentences. 

(b) Construct four sentences, each containing a pos- 
sessive. 

(c) Parse all words in the following sentences : 

1. The beautiful task of God, angel, or man is to love his 

world.— Prof. David Swing. 

2. A heart unspotted is not easily daunted. — Shakspere. 

3. Barbarism can hate, only civilization can love. 

— Prof. David Swing. 

4. The excesses of our youth are drafts upon our old age, 

payable with interest about thirty years after date. 

— COI.TON. 

5. Our fox-hunts and bull-rights are sports in which an old 

barbarism still lingers.— Prof. David Swing. 



VARIED USE OF WORDS. 137 

To read the sense the woods impart, 

You must bring the throbbing heart.— Emerson. 

Here, where the whitest blossoms blow, 

The reddest and ripest berries grow. — Stedman. 

Go out, children, from the mine and from the city, 

Sing out, children, as the little thrushes do: 
Pluck your handfuls of the meadow cowslips pretty, 

Laugh aloud, to feel your fingers let them through. 
— Mrs. Browning. 



VARIED USE OF WORDS. 

136. Words are classified according to their use; 
hence the part of speech to which a word belongs depends 
upon its use in any given sentence. Most words may be 
used as different parts of speech in different sentences. 

1. Shall we play at odd and even? 

2. Uniformly even was his conduct. 

3. This will even all inequalities. 

4- Even in our ashes live their wonted fires. 

In these sentences even is a noun in (1), an adjective 
in (2), a verb in (3), and an adverb in (4). 

Exercise. 

(a) Classify or parse the italicized words in the fol- 
lowing : 

Above. 1. The battle was above the clouds. 

2. Every good gift comes from above. 

3. Examine the above sentences. 

4. The various uses of even are seen above. 
After 5. He came after supper. 

6. He came after I was gone. 

7. He follows after, I go before. 

8. After ages shall sing bis glory. 



138 ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

All. 9. This man has lost his all. 

10. All doubt is cowardice, all trust is brave. 

11. All have refused the bribe. 

12. All bloodless lay the untrodden snow. 
But. 13. But is usually a conjunction. 

14. "Who can it be but him? 

15. There is but one thing to do. 

16. There is no soldier but loves his countiy. 
Enough. 17. He had cherries enough. 

IS. Enough is as good as a feast. 

10. It is sweet enough to eat. 

Except. 20. All except one agreed to go. 

21. We except the son from our charges. 

22. I will not let thee go except thou bless me. 
Half. 23. Half measures were of no avail. 

24. The slave was half dead with fear. 

25. Thy half o' the kingdom, hast thou not forgot? 
Light. 26. The morning light is breaking. 

27. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. 

28. Great chandeliers light the hall. 
Like. 29. There is no virtue like necessity. 

30. He was perfumed like a milliner. 

31. Do you like your new home? 

Near. 32. The school was located near our home. 

33. Our companions drew near. 

34. And still it nea/red and neared. 
Next. 35. At the next instant the crash came. 

36. Her princely guest was next her side. 

37. Who will come next? 

Only. 3S. That was her only chance. 

39. To find, he has only to seek. 

40. We should have sailed, only it was too dark. 

That 41. The hand that made us is divine. 

42. I can never forget that face. 

43. That was a dreadful mistake. 

44. Judge not that ye be not judged. 

45. That far you spoke advisedly. 



DIRECT AND INDIRECT DISCOURSE. 139 

Through. £6. Through the drifts we went. 

47. I read the letter through. 

48. That is a through train and this a through ticket. 
Well. 49. I advised him to leave well alone. 

50. Your child is quite well. 

51. I do not well know, my lord. 

52. Well, my lord, I have come. 
What. 53. I will furnish what you need. 

54. What shall we do next ? 

55. What ! must we expect war ? 

56 What with force, what with stratagem, he finally 
conquered. 

(0) Employ in sentences, in as many ways as you 
can, the words as, before, below, round, little, much, and 
last. 



DIRECT AND INDIRECT DISCOURSE. 

137. Direct discourse or quotation is the repeti- 
tion of the exact words of another in the expression of 
thought. 



Webster said, "I still live." 
"We can not," says Emerson, "let our angels go." 
' ' Shall the country be saved ? " asks every one of his neighbor. 
"Will you accept?" he demanded. 

Gibbon says, "The winds and the waves are always on the 
side of the ablest navigators." 



138. Indirect discourse is the repetition of the 
thought of the writer without the use of his exact words. 
It is usually indicated by the use of that after a verb 
of statement. 

1. Webster said tbat he still lived. 

2. Emerson says that men can not let their angels go. 



140 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. Every one asks his neighbor whether the country shall be 

saved. 

4. He demanded if he would accept. 

5. Gibbon says that the winds and waves are always on the 

side of the ablest navigators. 

139. From the foregoing illustrations it will be seen 
that the various grammatical changes often required in 
transforming direct to indirect discourse are as follows : 

1. The indirect quotation is introduced by that, and 
the indirect question by if, whether, and the regular 
interrogatives. 

2. The present tense is often changed to the past, 
and the past tense to the past perfect. 

3. The subjects in the first and second persons are 
changed to the third. 

Exercise. 

Transform the following sentences — the direct to the 
indirect, and the indirect to the direct, discourse : 

1. I said, "I will obey your orders." 

2. He replied that he would obey my orders. 

3. St. John said, "God is love." 

4- She asked whether her father yet lives. 

5. Tbey inquired, "Where are you going?" 

6. Beranger said that he would not care who made the laws 

of a nation, if he could make its ballads. 

7. We answered, "We shall regret exceedingly that we shall 

be obliged to miss the opportunity you offer." 

8. A Swiss inscription runs, "Speech is silvern, Silence is 

golden." 

9. Shenstone said, "Long sentences in short compositions are 

like large rooms in small houses." 
10. Burke asserts that frugality is founded on the principle 
that all riches have limits. 



Part III 



SYNTAX, 



140. Syntax is that part of grammar which treats 
of the relations between words in the expression of 
thought. 

The word syntax comes from two Greek words mean- 
ing together and arrangement; hence its significance as 
a grammatical term. More especially, therefore, syntax 
treats of the rules for the proper arrangement of words 
in sentences. 



THE SENTENCE. 

141. A sentence is the expression of a thought in 
words. In more specific terms, it is the statement of a 
thought about some person or thing. 

As the verb is the only part of speech that asserts 
or predicates, no sentence can be formed without a verb. 
Besides the verb, some noun representing that about 
which the assertion is made is also necessary to the 
structure of a sentence. Since this noun represents the 



Note to Teacher.— Incidentally a few of the rules of syntax have already 
been mentioned and illustrated. Under the general head of Syntax they will now 
be treated in a more complete and systematic manner. Some things will be repeated, 
and others that are new will be added. 

141 



142 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

subject about which the assertion is made, it is called the 
subject of the sentence; and the verb, which represents 
what is asserted or predicated of the subject, is called 
the predicate. As the verb in the sentence is the word 
which makes the assertion, the subject of the sentence 
is also called the subject of the verb. 

The simplest sentence contains only a subject (noun 
or substantive) and a predicate (verb) ; as, 
Pupils learn. 

Besides these two essential elements, a sentence may 
contain three other elements, called modifiers, whose office 
is merely to modify (change or measure) the meaning of 
the subject or the predicate; as, 

Some pupils easily learn grammar 

Thus a sentence must have two elements, and may 
have five. 



142. An element of a sentence is a word, phrase, 
or clause performing the office of subject, predicate, or 
modifier. 

Sentences the elements of which are either words or 
phrases are simpilc; those in which one or more of the 
elements are clauses are complex; those containing two or 
more propositions are compound. 

Classification of Elements. 

143. According to their rank, elements are divided 
into two classes : 

1. The principal elements, which are the gram- 
matical subject and the grammatical predicate— the 



THE SENTENCE. 143 

unmodified words of a sentence, which are necessary 
merely to make an assertion. 

1. Truth, like light, travels only in straight lines. 
- 2. Men have counted the stars and weighed the sun. 

3. Youth perpetual dwells in fountains — 

Not in flasks, and casks, and cellars. 

— Longfellow. 

2. The subordinate elements — the adjective, ob- 
jective, and adverbial elements, which are modifiers of 
other elements. 

4. Bright stars illumine the night. 

5. Consummate prudence marked the life and conduct 

of Washington. — Everett. 

6. The scouts had parted on their search, 

The castle gates were barred. — Scott. 



Principal Elements. 

144. The grammatical subject is the substantive 
which represents that about which something is asserted. 
In form it may be — 

1. A noun or pronoun. 

1. Trees are plants ; they have life. 

2. Iron and copper are metals. 

2. An infinitive phrase. 

3. To read great books is to learn great truths. 

4. To shoot at crows is powder flung away. 

8. A quotation. 

5. "Ay, ay, sir," was his only reply. 

6. -'Hurrah! hurrah!" was heard along the line. 



144 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

4- A clause. 

7. That stars are sum, is now believed. 

S. That you have wronged me, doth appear in this. 

145. The logical subject is the grammatical sub- 
ject combined with its modifiers. This is also styled 
the complex subject. 

1. The wild birds told their warbling tale. 

2. Drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds. 

146. The grammatical predicate is either a verb 
of complete predication or a copulative verb plus an 
attribute. In form it may be — 

1. A single verb. 

1. The fire burns brightly in the grate. 

2. Animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. 

3. Oppression makes the wise man mad. 

2. A verb-phrase. 

4. The early colonists were descnbed by the lecturer. 

5. Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust ? 

6. In the Ice age a mighty glacier must have covered 

most of North America. 

3. A copula or copulative verb and its attribute. 

7. Bronze is a useful alloy. 

8. The sky soon became clear. 

9. The Rubicon is an Italian river. 

147. The attribute of a copulative verb may be — 
1. A noun or a pronoun. 

1. The true Sovereign is the Wise Man. 

2. It was he, not she. 

3. He seems a perfect hero. 



THE SENTENCE. 145 

2. An adjective. 

J/-. The White Mountains are beautiful in autumn. 

5. Silk feels smooth and looks glossy. 

6. Some days must be cold, and dark, and dreary. 

3. A prepositional phrase used as an adjective. 

7. The family were in want (needy). 

8. His judgment was at fault (faulty). 

9. The gates are of pearl (pearly). 

4- An infinitive used to denote, (a) an equivalent of 
the subject; (b) what is settled or expected; (c) what is 
required; (d) what is possible; and (e) what ought to be. 

10. To obey is usually to enjoy. 

11. Patti is to sing to-night. 

12. The lands were to be sold. 

13. Gold is to be found in 

14. Parents are to 

5. A clause. 

15. My desire is that you remain till to-morrow. 

16. Reputation is what men and women think of us; 

character is ichat God and the angels know of us. 
— Paine. 

148. The logical predicate is the grammatical 
predicate combined with its modifiers. This is also styled 
the complex predicate. 

1. An idle brain is the devil's workshop. 

2. The tadpole soon becomes a frog. 

ExEHCISE. 

(a) Mention the grammatical subject and grammatical 
predicate in each of the following sentences, and tell of 
what they consist : 

1. The dew is on the grass again. 

2. Our doors are always open to visitors. 
10 



146 ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

3. Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. 

4. To converse with historians is to keep good com- 

pany. 

5. I could not find a better man. 

6. A soldier's duty is promptly to obey. 

7. Cheap work is of little value. 

S. Two negatives make an affirmative ; but two nothings 

never make anything. — Buckingham. 
9. Still all my song shall be, 

Nearer, my God, to Thee.— S. F. ADAMS. 

10. Oh, tenderly the haughty day 

Fills his blue urn with fire. — Emerson. 

11. Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; 

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, 
Hath had elsewhere its setting 
And cometh from afar. 

— Wordsworth . 

(b) Select the logical and grammatical elements from 
a paragraph of your history ; construct sentences illus- 
trating the different forms of the attribute. 



Subordinate Elements. 

149. An adjective element is one that limits a 
noun or a pronoun. It may occur in any part of a 
sentence. 

Be firm! one constant element in luck 

Is genuine, solid, old Teutonic pluck. — Holmes. 

The adjective element is an adjective or the equiva- 
lent of an adjective. Thus it may be — 

1. An adjective. 

/. The odiom Stamp Act was finally repealed. 

2. Veiy strange reports soon arose. 

3. Gnat riv.rs are spanned by suspension bridges. 



THE SENTENCE. 14:1 



A participle. 



4. A rolling stone gathers no moss. 

5. Farced obedience is better than none. 

3. A possessive (either a noun or a pronoun). 

6. Her books are her best company. 

7. Nature's tears are reason's merriment. 

4- An appositive. 

8. Hope, the star of life, never sets. 

9. George Eliot, the novelist, is a favorite author. 

5. A prepositional phrase. 

10. The waste of plenty is the resource of scarcity. 

11. The roses by my window bloom in May. 

12. The secret of success is constancy to purpose. 

— Disraeli. 

6. A participial phrase. 

13. I saw a man plowing in the field. 

14. Truth crushed to earth shall rise again. — Bryant. 

15. Things rashly undertaken end as ill. — Fletcher. 

7. An infinitive phrase. 

16. Time hath his work to do and we have ours. 

— Emerson. 

17. They who have much to love have much to fear. 

—Burke. 

8. A clause. 

IS. This is the child to whom you referred. 

19. He is a boy whose word is never doubted. 

20. I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows. 

— SlIAKSPERE. 

21. He that writes to himself writes to an eternal public. 

— Emerson. 



148 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Exercise. 

(a) Mention the grammatical subjects and the gram- 
matical predicates of the following sentences. Mention 
also the adjective elements; give their form and tell 
what they modify: 

1. The precious morning hours should not be wasted. 

2. A free people should be educated. 

3. The gentleness of Heaven is on the sea. 

4. Tidings of misfortune fly with rapid wing. 

5. The time has come to speak. 

6*. Timour's front was covered with a line of Indian 
elephants. 

7. Napoleon III, the French emperor, was defeated at 

Sedan. 

8. The castles along the Rhine have been celebrated in 

song and story. 

0. Move eastward, happy earth, and leave 

Yon orange sunset waning slow : 
From fringes of the faded eve, 

O, happy planet, eastward go. — Tennyson. 
10. The sun is warm, the sky is clear, 

The waves are dancing fast and bright, 

Blue isles and snowy mountains wear 

The purple noon's transparent might.— Shelley. 

(b) Define the adjective element and describe its dif- 
ferent forms. 

(c) Construct three sentences illustrating each of the 
eight different forms of the adjective element. 

150. An objective element limits a transitive verb 
or verbal by explaining its meaning, and may be either 
direct or indirect. 

1. Politeness costs nothing, and gains everything. (Direct.) 



J. 



Give thy thoughts no tongue. (Indirect.) 



THE SENTENCE. 149 

The direct objective element limits a verb by denoting 
what or whom the action affects, and generally answers 
the question What f or Whom ? 

3. The end must justify the means. — Prior. 

4. Truth loves open dealing. — Shaksfere. 

5. A close mouth catches no flies. — Cervantes. 

The indirect objective element modifies a verb by 
denoting that to or for which anything is done, or that 
from or out of which anything proceeds. Without a 
preposition it is usually equivalent to a phrase with to 
or for understood. 

When the indirect objective element precedes the 
direct, the preposition is omitted. 

6. Give me liberty or give me death. 

7. George gave his sister a peach. 

8. She asked him for a pear. 

9. He gave pleasant answers to all. 

10. Can you bring us proof of Ids guilt ? 

Obs. — A few verbs, like ask and speak, take an indirect object 
in the relation expressed by of. 

1. She often speaks of her life in Italy. 

2. He asked a favor of me. 

3. They demand of us good work. 

151. The direct object is a substantive. Thus it 
may be — 

1. A noun or pronoun. 

1. Honest hearts make iron arms. — Holmes. 

2. Search others for their virtues and thyself for thy vices 

— Fuller. 

3. When we desire life for the attainment of an object, 

we recognize the frailty of its texture. 

— Hawthorne. 



150 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

2. An infinitive phrase. 

4. The bird has learned to fly. 

5. He tried to conceal his fears. 

6. You love to trifle in rhyme a little now and then. 

8. A participial phrase. 

7. We enjoy fishing in the brooks. 

8. You should avoid reading by twilight. 

9. His being tardy I can not excuse. 

Jf. A clause. 

10. I knew that you would come. 

11. He knew not what he should do. 

12. She told me inhere she had been. 

Obs. — An intransitive verb often takes an object of kindred 
meaning, which is called a cognate object. 

1. He ran a noble race for life. 

2. I have fought a good fight. 

3. Speak the speech as I pronounce it to you. 

152. Verbs conveying the idea of making, either by 
thought, word, or deed, are often limited by double objects 
— one direct, representing the person or thing affected; 
the other, attributive, denoting some attribute asserted 
of the direct object. This is called the attributive 
object. The attributive object may be — 

1. A noun. 

1. We elected him our chairman. 

2. They chose her queen of the May. 

3. His mother named him David. 

2. An adjective. 

4. The man painted the house gray. 

5. Truth makes true love doubly sweet to know. 

— Leigh Hunt. 

6. Give me health and a day, and I will make the 

pomp of emperors ridiculous. — Emerson. 



THE SENTENCE. 151 

3. An infinitive phrase having the direct object as 
its assumed subject. 

7. They made their slaves work. 

8. She caused it to be destroyed. 

9. We thought him to be a scholar. 
10. I watched the little circles die. 

Obs. I.— Work and die in the above are infinitives, with to 
omitted. In constructions like sentence 9, the infinitive and the 
noun following, taken together, form the attributive object — the 
noun scholar being in the objective case to agree with him, which 
is the assumed subject of the infinitive to be. 

Obs. II. — When a verb having a double object is changed to 
the passive voice, the attributive object is retained in the predi- 
cate as the attribute of a copulative verb. Thus the foregoing 
sentences 1, 2, and 4, changed to the passive voice, become : 

1. He was elected chairman by us. 

2. She was chosen queen of the May by them. 

3. The house was painted gray by the man. 

Among the verbs limited by double objects are the following : 

make create render constitute 

appoint name think consider 

elect style esteem regard 

Exekcise. 

(a) Mention the subjects and predicates of the fol- 
lowing; classify the objects and tell the office of each : 

1. You taught me grammar and history. 

2. The people elected him president. 

3. They kept his work intact. 

4. A cheerful temper joined with innocence will make 

beauty attractive, knowledge delightful, and 
wit good-natured. — Addison. 

5. Time may restore us in his course 
Goethe's sage mind and Byron's force. 

— Matthew Arnold. 



152 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

6 # Our doubts are traitors, 

And make us lose the good we oft might win, 
By fearing to attempt,— Shakspere. 

7. I hear the noise about thy keel ; 

I hear the bell struck in the night ; 
I see the cabin-window bright ; 
I see the sailor at the wheel.— Tennyson. 

8. What mortal knows 

Whence came the tint and odor of the rose ? 

What probing deep 
Has ever solved the mystery of sleep ? — Aldrich. 

(b) Write three sentences, using the nouns teacher, 
painter, and artist as attributive objects. 

(c) Write three sentences, using the adjectives ivhite, 
pleasant, and beautiful as attributive objects. 

(d) Write three sentences, using the infinitives of 
the verbs toil, walk, and study as attributive objects. 

153. An adverbial element limits a verb, verbal, 
adjective, or adverb, and generally answers the question 
When? Where? Why? How? or How much? It is either 
an adverb or the equivalent of an adverb. Thus it 
may be — 

1. An adverb. 

1. The moon will soon shine again. 

2. The wind blows very fiercely. 

3. What we ardently wish, we soon believe. — Young. 

4. Evermore thanks, the exchequer of the poor. 

— Shakspere. 

2. A prepositional phrase. 

5. Our road lay along tlie foot of the hills. 

6. Sin is too dull to see beyond himself. — Tennyson. 

7. By contenting ourselves with obedience we become 

divine.— Emerson. 



THE SENTENCE. 153 

3. An infinitive phrase. 

8. Laws are framed to prevent injustice. 

9. These pears are good to eat. 

10. That boy is too young to enlist. 

11. God comes to see us without bell. — Old Proverb. 

4. A clause. 

12. Where there is no hope, there is no endeavor. 

— Dr. Johnson. 

13. When the age is in, the wit is out. — Shakspere. 
14- Bffore man made us citizens, great Nature made us 

men. — Lowell. 

Exercise. 

(a) Mention the adverbial elements in the following 
sentences, and tell of what each one consists and what 
it limits : 

1. The proud are always provoked by pride. — Cowper. 

2. Religion always sides with poverty. — Herbert. 

3. We walked across the fields and through the groves. 

4. Be near me when my light is low. — Tennyson. 

5. Men's evil manners live in brass ; their virtues 
We write in water. — Shakspere. 

6. Such ever was love's way : to rise, it stoops. 

— Browning. 

7. God's in his heaven : 

All's right with the world !— Browning. 

8. I walk with bare, hushed feet the ground 

Ye tread with boldness shod ; 
I dare not fix with mete and bound 

The love and power of God. 
And so beside the Silent Sea 

I wait the muffled oar; 
No harm from Him can come to me 

On ocean or on shore. — Whittier. 

(b) Construct two sentences illustrating each of the 
four forms of the adverbial element. 



154 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

154. According to their form, elements may be — 

1. Simple — single elements without a modifier. 

/. Buds blossom in summer. 

2. Sweet blossoms are coming. 

3. Some blossoms come early. 

4. Tuberoses bring perfume. 

2. Complex— single elements combined with one or 
more modifiers. 

5. Blue violets are now coming. 

6. Bright-eyed daisies come very late. 

7. This is a very pretty bud. 

8. The roses bring sioeet perfume. 

3. Compound — two or more simple or complex 
elements united by a coordinate conjunction. 

9. Buds ami flowers come in spring. 

10. Buds develop and blossom. 

11. Flowers come early and late. 

12. He will bring me a rose, red or white. 

13. Roses bring beauty and perfume. 

155. Nouns denoting time, distance or direction, 
manner, measure, weight or value, are often used like 
adverbs. In some cases such nouns may be considered 
the objects of prepositions understood. They are in the 
objective case without a preposition. With the preposi- 
tions they would form adverbial phrases ; without them 
they are called adverbial objectives. 

In parsing them it is unnecessary to mention or supply 
a preposition. Like indirect objects without a preposi- 
tion, they have a separate and well-defined function in 
language. The adverbial objective may limit — 



THE SENTENCE. 155 



1. A verb. 



1. We returned another way. 

2. He arrived last night. 

3. The ship drove full sail. 



An acljecti 



ve. 



4. The lot is sixty feet long. 

5. He is not a bit like his brother. 

6. The child is now six years old. 

7. She is very unlike her sister. 

8. He hath a ring worth forty ducats. 



An adverb. 




9. 


He slept all night long. 


10. 


They arrived i 


i week ago. 


11. 


We journeyed 


a mile farther. 


12. 


He acted like 


a hero. 


13. 


They formed i 


n line opposite the arsenal. 



Oes.— Like and opposite are regarded by some as prepositions, 
and like a hero and opposite the arsenal are treated as adverbial 
phrases. 

Construct two sentences illustrating each of the three 
uses of the adverbial objective, and tell what each one 
limits. 

Independent Elements. 

156. An independent element is a word, phrase, 
or clause having no grammatical relation to other words 
in the sentence. Independent elements may be — 

1. Words used in address (vocatives). 

1. Comrades, leave me here a little. 

2. My dear sir, be considerate. 

5. Thou, too, sail on, Ship of State ! 

— Longfellow. 



156 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

2. Exclamatory expressions (interjections). 

4. Hark! I hear the bell. 

5. What, is it so late ! 

3. Introductory connectives, expletives, or phrases. 

G. The speaker, however, was quite sincere. 

7. Well, how goes the hour ? 

S. I think, in fact, you are wrong. 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 

157. Analysis of a sentence is resolving it into 
its elements and giving the office of each. 

In analyzing sentences, after arranging the elements in 
their natural order and filling all ellipses, observe the fol- 
lowing order of statement : 

(1) The kind of sentence, both as to form and use ; 
(2) the grammatical subject ; (H) the grammatical predi- 
cate ; (4) the modifiers of the subject ; (5) the logical 
subject; (0) the modifiers of the predicate; (7) the logical 
predicate. 

The Simple Sentence. 

158. A simple sentence is a sentence composed of 
one proposition — one subject and one predicate. It is 
a sentence the elements of which are either words or 
phrases. 

1. Great rivers run rapidly. 

■ '. The rivers of Maine flow into the Atlantic. 

MODELS FOR ANALYSIS. 

159. Model I. A small leak sometimes sinks a great ship. 

This is a simple declarative sentence. Leak represents 
that of which the action sinks is asserted ; hence it is 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 157 

the grammatical subject. Sinks asserts the action of 
leak; hence it is the grammatical predicate. Leak is 
modified by A and small, both adjective elements. A 
small leak is the logical subject. Sinks is modified by 
sometimes, an adverbial element, and also by a great 
ship, a complex objective element, of which ship is the 
basis, modified by a and great, both adjective elements. 
Sometimes sinks a great ship is the logical predicate. 
This analysis may be diagrammed thus : 

leak — sinks 

A sometimes 

small ship. O 

a 

great 

For explanation of method, see Sees. 172 and 173. 

Model II. The topaz is a beautiful gem. 

This is a simple declarative sentence. Topaz is the 
grammatical subject, and is gem the grammatical predi- 
cate. Is is the copula, a form of the verb be, used to 
connect the substantive attribute gem with the subject 
topaz. Gem is the attribute, a word used with the copula 
to express the class of objects to which the subject 
belongs. Topaz is modified by the, an adjective element. 
Tfie topaz is the logical subject. Gem is modified by a 
and beautiful, both adjective elements. Is a 
gem is the logical predicate. 

This analysis may be diagrammed thus : 

topaz is JL gem. 

The a 

beautiful 



158 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Model III. The autumn woods arc very beautiful. 

This is a simple declarative sentence. Woods is the 
grammatical subject, and are beautiful the grammatical 
predicate. Are is the copula, a form of the verb be, 
used to connect the adjective attribute beautiful with the 
subject tuoods. Beautiful is the attribute, a word used 
with the copula to assert a quality of the subject woods. 
Woods is modified by the and autumn, both adjective 
elements. The autumn woods is the logical subject. 
Beautiful is modified by very, an adverbial element. Are 
very beautiful is the logical predicate. 

This analysis may be diagrammed thus: 

woods are beautiful. 

The very 



Model IV. Our friends of the olden time have come a long 
distance to see us. 

This is a simple declarative sentence. Friends is the 
grammatical subject, and have come the grammatical 
predicate. Friends is modified by Our, an adjective 
element, and by the phrase of the olden time, a complex 
adjective element, of which of time is the basis. Time 
is modified by the and olden, both adjective elements. 
Our friends of the olden time is the logical subject. 
Have come is modified by a long distance, a complex 
adverbial element, of which the adverbial objective 
distance is the basis. Distance is modified by a and 
long, both adjective elements. Have come is also modified 
by the phrase to see ws, a complex adverbial element, of 
which to see is the basis. To see is modified by us, an 
objective element. Have come a long distance to see us 
is the logical predicate. 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 159 

The foregoing analysis may be diagrammed thus : 



friends 


have come 


Our 


distance. 


of time 


a 


the 


long 


olden 


to see 




us. 


Exercise. 





(a) Analyze the following simple sentences : 

1. His horses are spirited animals. 

2. A wise man is never quite alone. 

3. A soft answer turneth away wrath. 

4. The child looks very happy. 

5. What becomes man most ? 

6. The old barn was painted red. 

7. His hair became snow-white. 

8. Murmuring brooks make gentle music. 

9. Coming events cast their shadows before. — Campbell. 

10. Delay always breeds danger. — Cervantes. 

11. The meanest Briton scorns the highest slave. — Addison. 

12. Human science is uncertain guess. — Prior. 

13. It did me yeoman's service. — Shakspere. 
lJf. Honesty is the best policy. — Franklin. 

(b) Analyze the examples in Sec. 155. 

(c) Analyze the following sentences : • 

1. He gave me the book to read at my leisure. 

2. She has come many miles to visit us. 

3. Some of our visitors will remain a week. 

4. The alleys of the city are sixteen feet wide. 

5. Solitude at length grows tiresome.— Sterne. 
G. Two of a trade can never agree. — Gay. 



Note to Teacher.— At first it will be well to require pupils to give a reason 
for each statement in the analysis. 



160 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

7. Every difficulty yields to the enterprising.— Holman. 

S. The world exists for the education of each man. — Emerson. 

9. Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. — Emerson. 

10. Cowards die many times before their deaths. — Shakspere. 

11. Verse comes from Heaven, like inward light. — Prior. 

12. The secret of success is constancy to purpose. — Disraeli. 

13. The all of things is an infinite conjugation of the verb — 

"To Do."— Carlyle. 
14- Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate. — Pope. 

15. The clouds in bars of misty red 

Along the hill -tops glow. — Alice Cart. 

16. No compound of this earthly ball 

Is like another, all in all— Tennyson. 

17. Our country hath a gospel all her own 

To preach and practice before all the world — 
The freedom and divinity of man. — Lowell. 

(d) Analyze examples 1 to 17 in Sec. 149. 

(e) Analyze examples in Sec. 150. 
(/) Analyze examples in Sec. 154. 

The Complex Sentence. 

160. A complex sentence is a sentence which con- 
tains one proposition and one or more clauses — a sentence 
the elements of which include the clause. 

1. Tltat you may prosper is my desire. 

2. I hope that you may prosper. 

3. Mind is the force that rules the world. 

4- We were pained when we heard of your illness. 

A study of the above sentences will show that the 
clause which renders a sentence complex performs the 
office of a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Hence 
clauses are classified as substantive, adjective, or adverbial. 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 161 

161. A substantive clause is one that performs 
the office of a noun. In construction it may be — 

1. The subject of a sentence. 

1. That might makes right is false doctrine. 

2. Where the first acorn came from is the question. 

2. The attribute of a copulative verb. 

3. Our belief is that stars are suns. 

4. Reputation is what we seem; character is what we are. 

3. The object of a verb or verbal. 

5. Man can do what man has done. 

6. How long we live, not years, but actions, tell. 



7. Seeing that our way teas clear, we advanced. 

8. We often fail to see where duty lies. 

If.. The object of a preposition. 

9. Men are judged by what they do. 

10. Much will depend upon who are your friends. 

5. An appositive with a noun or pronoun. 

11. The fact that mould is a plant is wonderful. 

12. Take for your motto the saying, Time Is Money. 

6. An appositive with the expletive it. 

13. It is our hope that no such results trill follow. 

14. Write it on your hearts that every day is the best day 

in the year. 

Obs. — It, as used in sentence 13, is the anticipative subject 
of the sentence, the real subject being the clause in apposition 
with it. Used as in sentence 14, it is the anticipative object of 
write, the real object being tbe clause in apposition with it. (See 
Idioms, page 215.) 
11 



162 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Substantive clauses containing a statement are con- 
nected by the conjunctions that, that not, and sometimes 
hut, hut that; those containing an inquiry, by the inter- 
rogatives who, which, what, where, whither, whence, when, 
how, why, whether, whoever, wherefore. 

MODELS FOR ANALYSIS. 

162. Model V. That the earth is an oblate spheroid has been 
proved. 

This is a complex declarative sentence. The entire 
sentence, since the subject is a clause, is the proposition. 
The clause, That the earth is an oblate spheroid, is the 
subject of the proposition, and has been proved is the 
predicate. Earth is the grammatical subject of the clause, 
and is spheroid the grammatical predicate, of which is 
is the copula and spheroid the attribute. Earth is modi- 
fied by the, an adjective element. The earth is the logical 
subject. Spheroid is modified by an and oblate, both 
adjective elements. Is an oblate spheroid is the logical 
predicate. That is the connective introducing the clause. 

This analysis may be diagrammed thus : 

(That earth is JL spheroid) has been proved. 

the an 

oblate 

Model VI. The belief of astronomers is that stars are suns. 

This is a complex declarative sentence. The entire 
sentence, since the attribute is a clause, is the proposition, 
and that stars are suns is the clause. Belief is the 
grammatical subject of the proposition, and is that stars 
are suns is the grammatical predicate, of which is is the 
copula and that stars are suns is the attribute. Belief 
is modified by the, an adjective element, and by the 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 163 

phrase of astronomers, an adjective element. The belief 
of astronomers is the logical subject. Stars is the gram- 
matical subject of the clause, and are suns the grammat- 
ical predicate, of which are is the copula and suns the 
attribute. Is that stars are suns is the logical predicate. 
That is the connective introducing the clause. 
This analysis may be diagrammed thus: 

belief is JL that stars are JL suns. 

The 

of astronomers 

Model VII. Have astronomers proved that stars are suns ? 

This is a complex interrogative sentence, of which 
Have astronomers proved is the proposition, and that 
stars are suns the clause. Astronomers is the gram- 
matical subject of the proposition, and have proved the 
grammatical predicate. Have proved is modified by the 
clause that stars are suns, an objective element. Stars 
is the subject of the clause, and are suns is the predicate. 
Are is the copula and suns the attribute. Have proved 
that stars are suns is the logical predicate. That is the 
connective uniting the clause to the verb have proved. 

This analysis may be diagrammed thus : 

astronomers Have proved 

that stars are _U_ suns ? O 

Exercise. 

(a) Analyze the examples in Sec. 161. 

(b) Analyze the following sentences: 

1. Why he resigned a good office is strange. 

2. When the troops embarked is not generally known. 

3. That caterpillars change to butterflies is a curious fact. 

4. That the world moves was believed by Galileo. 



164 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

5. The order was that we should flank the enemy. 

6. The query is, "Where can we find the law?" 

7. The myth concerning Achilles is that he was invulnerable 

in every part except the heel. 

8. The most important question of the time is, "What can 

be done to lessen criminality ? " 

9. I notice that the horse is lame. 

10. No one can tell how he obtained his appointment. 

11. Do you know that yeast and mildew are plants ? 

12. Many people suppose that the planets are inhabited. 

13. "Where are all the good buried ?" inquired Charles Lamb. 

14. Explain why you invert the divisor. 

15. Feeling that we were right, we feared no danger. 

16. I ordered the attack, believing you could capture the army. 

17. I shall be glad to learn that you arrive safely. 

18. We love to think that ideas are the world's best masters. 

19. I fail to see how it will do any good. 

20. He seemed happy to learn that we had been prosperous. 

21. The result will depend upon what commissioners are 

appointed. 

22. Men are too often judged by what they say and how 

they dress. 

(c) Construct sentences illustrating each of the 
different uses of the substantive clause. 

163. An adjective clause is a clause that performs 
the office of an adjective. Like the adjective, it may be 
used with a noun or pronoun in any part of the sentence. 
Thus it may limit — 

1. The subject. 

1. The poet who wrote "Paradise Lost" sold it for five 

pounds. 

2. He is well paid that is well satisfied. — Shakspere. 

2. The attribute. 

3. A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. — Emerson. 

4. An idler is a watch that wants both liands. — Cowper. 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 165 

3. The object of a verb. 

5. He left the name at which the world grew pale. 

— Dr. Johnson. 

6. I dare do all that may become a man. — Shakspere. 

Jf.. The object of a preposition. 

7. He is the friend of a lawyer whom I know. 

8. Be kind to them that hate you. 

Adjective clauses are connected by the relatives who, 
which, that, and as; also by ichy, when, where, whereon, 
and other compounds of where. The latter connectives, 
being equivalent respectively to the relative phrases for 
which, in which, at which, and on which, are often called 
relative adverbs. 

MODEL FOR ANALYSIS. 

164. Model VIII. The evil that men do lives after them. 

This is a complex declarative sentence, of which 
The evil lives after them is the proposition and that men 
do is the clause. Evil, the grammatical subject of the 
proposition, is limited by The, and also by the clause 
that men do, both adjective elements. The evil that men 
do is the logical subject of the projjosition. Lives, the 
grammatical predicate of the proposition, is limited by 
the phrase after them, an adverbial element. Lives after 
them is the logical predicate. Men is the subject of the 
clause. Do, the grammatical predicate of the clause, is 
limited by that, an objective element. Do that is the 
logical predicate. That is the subordinate connective, 
joining the clause to evil. 

This analysis may be diagrammed thus: 

evil lives 

The after them. 

men do 

that O 



166 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Exercise. 
(a) Analyze the examples in Sec. 163. 

(i) Analyze the following sentences and parse the 
connectives : 

He who loves not his country can love nothing. — Byron. 
There is a reaper whose name is Death. — Longfellow. 
They that die for a good cause are redeemed from death. 

— Beecher. 
Modesty is a lovely trait which sets the last seal to a truly 

great character.— Everett. 
We live by the gold for which other men die. — Prior. 
Happy (are) the people whose annals are blank in history- 
books. — Carlyle. 

I have a reason why 
I would not have you speak so tenderly. — Dryden. 

They who await 
No gifts from chance have conquered fate. — M. Arnold. 
I knew the spot upon the hill 
Where checkerberries could be found.— Field. 

10. Hope shall steal away the trace 

Which sorrow leaves behind. — Moore. 

11. It is the heart, and not the brain, 

That to the highest doth attain.— Longfellow. 

12. They are slaves who dare not be 

In the right with two or three. — Lowell. 

13. Whom the heart of man shuts out 
Sometimes the heart of God takes in. — Lowell. 

14. There is a tide in the affairs of men 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. 

— Shakspere. 

15. There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, 

To keep watch for the life of poor Jack.— Dibdin. 

(c) Construct sentences illustrating the various uses 
of the adjective clause. 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 167 

165. An adverbial clause is a clause that performs 
the office of an adverb. The adverbial clause may limit — 

1. A verb or verbal. 

1. Art followed where Rome's eagles led. 

2. I saw brave officers fighting where the mob was thickest. 

3. We hope to go where summer sings and never dies. 

2. An adjective. 

4. He appears younger than he is. 

5. I am glad that you favor my cause. 

S. An adverb. 

6. He came oftener than we expected. 

7. Lincoln was as shrewd as he was great. 

166. The adverbial clause may denote — 

1. Time. 

1. Till Cant cease, nothing else can begin. — Caklyle. 

2. Man must imprison the steam before it will drag his flying* 

train. — Prof. David Swing. 

The connectives used in clauses of time are after, as, 
before, ere, since, till, until, when, whenever, while, and 
the conjunctive phrases as soon as, as long as, etc. 

2. Place. 

3. Where light is, chameleons change. 

4. Whither thou goest, I will go. 

5. He will return whence he came. 

The connectives used in clauses of place are where, 
whither, whence, thither, thence, etc. 

3. Manner. 

6. I read the stanzas as I have been instructed. 

7. Politeness requires one to act as a kind heart would dictate. 



168 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The connectives used in clauses of manner are as, as 
if, according as. 

4. Degree. 

8. Example is better than precept (is good). 

9. The longer I study the clearer I can think. 

10. He builded better than he knew.— Emerson. 

The connectives used in clauses of degree are than 
and the correlatives as — as. 

Obs. — Proportionate equality is expressed by an adverbial use 
of the with the comparative, as seen in sentence 9. 

5. Cause or reason. (Eeal.) 

11. We lost our way because it was dark. 

12. Since you trust me, I will do my best, 

The connectives used in clauses of cause or reason 
are as, because, for, since, whereas, etc. 

6. Condition or concession. (Possible or conceded 
cause. ) 

IS. If frost comes, the leaves will wither. 
14- Though the sea threatens, it is merciful. 

The connectives used in clauses of condition or con- 
cession are if, unless, though, although, so, lest, except, 
provided that, etc. 

7. Result or purpose. 

15. We sang till we were hoarse. 

16. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty. — Proverbs. 

17. I am so weary that I can go no farther. 

The connectives used in clauses of result or purpose 
are lest, till, and that. 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 169 

Obs. I. — The subordinate connective is sometimes omitted. 

1. I think he is an able speaker. 

2. Man creates the evil A he endures. 

A 

3. .Had I a heart for falsehood framed, 

I ne'er could injure you. — Sheridan. 

Obs. II. — Clauses are often used parenthetically. 

1. Religion, who can doubt it, is the noblest of themes. 

2. He gave to mis'ry (all he had) a tear, 

He gained from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend. 

— Gray. 
Clauses used in this manner may be modifiers, although the 
sense is grammatically complete without them. 

Exercise. 

(a) Mention the adverbial clauses in the foregoing 
examples and tell what each one limits, and how. 

(b) Construct sentences illustrating the different 
classes of the adverbial clause described. 

(c) Construct three sentences, omitting the use of the 
connective. 

(d) Construct two sentences, each containing a paren- 
thetical clause. 

(e) Construct sentences illustrating each of the 
different uses of the adverbial clause. 

MODEL FOR ANALYSIS. 

1G7. Model IX. Where law ends, tyranny begins. — Pitt. 

This is a complex declarative sentence, of which 
tyranny begins is the proposition, and Where law ends 



170 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

the clause. Tyranny is the subject of the proposition, 
and begins the grammatical predicate. Begins is modi- 
fied by the clause where laiv ends. Begins where law 
ends is the logical predicate. Law is the subject of the 
clause, and ends the grammatical predicate. Ends is 
modified by where, an adverbial element. Begins ivhere 
is the logical predicate of the clause. Where is the sub- 
ordinate conjunction, connecting the clause with the 
verb begins. 

This analysis may be diagrammed thus : 

tyranny begins. 

law ends, 

Where 



EXERCISE. 

(a) Analyze the examples in Sees. 165 and 166. 

(b) Analyze the following sentences, and parse the 
subordinate conjunctions: 

1. Whither I go, ye can not come. — Bible. 

2. When beggars die, there are no comets seen. — Shakspere. 

3. Where the bee sucks honey, the spider sucks poison. 

4. As Caesar loved me, I weep for him. — Shakspere. 

5. Because he was ambitious, I slew him.— Shakspere. 

6. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. — Bible. 

7. If I lose mine honor, 
I lose myself. — Shakspere. 

8. Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, 

My heart untravell'd fondly turns to thee. — Goldsmith. 

9. We are near waking when we dream that we dream. 

— Novalis. 

10. If Nature put not forth her power 
About the opening of the flower, 

Who is it that could live an hour? — Tennyson. 

11. If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give 

no man a reason upon compulsion. — Shakspere. 



ANALYSIS OP THE SENTENCE. 171 

12. What is the cost of 21 chairs, if 3 cost $10 ? 

13. This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing 

To waft me from distraction. — Byron. 

14. And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea 
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. 

— Byron. 

15. A little group of wise hearts is better than a wilderness 
of fools.— Ruskin. 

16. When the Athenian audience hissed a public speaker for 
a mispronunciation, it did not follow that any one of the malcon- 
tents could pronounce as well as the orator. — Higginson. 

17. If there be those who would not save the Union unless 
they could at the same time destroy Slavery, I do not agree with 
them.— Lincoln. 

18. When beechen buds begin to swell, 

And woods the blue-bird's warble know, 
The yellow violet's modest bell 

Peeps from the last year's leaves below. 

Ere russet fields their green resume, 

Sweet flower, I love, in forest bare, 
To meet thee, when thy faint perfume 

Alone is in the virgin air. — Bryant. 



The Compound Sentence. 

168. A compound sentence is a sentence com- 
posed of ttvo or more propositions united by a coordinate 
conjunction, either expressed or understood. The propo- 
sitions thus united are independent constituents of the 
sentence, and are called members. 

1. Youth is a blunder and manhood is a struggle. 

2. Man proposes; God disposes. 

S. Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. — Tennyson. 
4. Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art is a mushroom. 

— Carlyle. 



172 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

169. According to their form, the members of a 

compound sentence may he — 

1. Simple propositions. 

1. The fair breeze Mew and tlie white foam flew. 

2. He stood on an eminence, and glory covered him. 

3. The race is not to the swift, nor (is) the battle to the 

strong. — Bible. 

2. Complex propositions. (Such sentences are 
compound-complex. ) 

4. Decide as you choose, and I will act as I like. 

5. If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give 

him drink. — Bible. 

0. Talent is that which is in a man's power; genius is 

that in whose power a man is. — Lowell. 

3. Compound propositions. 

7. She smiled, and the world was all light ; she frowned, 

and hope had nearly left me. 

8. Trust men, and they will be true to you ; treat them 

gently, and they will show themselves great. 
— Emerson. 

170. According to their use, members may be — 

1. Copulative, those expressing thought additional. 

1. We have met the enemy and they are ours. — Perry. 

2. He is sick ; moreover, he was left in my care. 

3. I met the swamp-dweller, who was an interesting 

personage. 

4. Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the 

most difficult lesson in the world. — Cervantes. 

The conjunctions used are and, also, both, like /rise, 
moreover, further, as well as, etc.; and also who when 
equivalent to and who, and which when equivalent to 
and this. 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 173 

2. Adveksative, those expressing thoughts opposed 
to, or contrasted with, each other. 

5. We eat to live, but we do not live to eat. 

6. Tlie form perishes; matter, however, is indestructible. 

7. Art, indeed, is long, but life is short. — Marvell. 

8. He has often been reproved, but still he is tardy. 

9. Though the mills of God grind slowly, 

Yet they grind exceeding small. — Longfellow. 

The conjunctions used are but (the principal one), 
yet, still, only, notwithstanding, nevertheless, etc. 

3. Alteknative, those offering a choice between two. 

10. We must conquer, or our liberties trill be lost. 

11. A jest is not an argument, nor is a laugh a demonstration. 

The conjunctions used are or, nor; else, otherwise, 
used with or for emphasis; and either and neither, correl- 
atives of or and nor. 

Jf. Illative, those which express an implied inference 
from, or a consequence of, what is previously exjn-essed. 

12. The crop is abundant ; therefore the soil is fertile. 

13. The smoke falls ; hence it will soon rain. 

14- The angles are equal ; consequently the sides are equal. 

The conjunctions used are therefore, hence, wherefore, 
consequently, then so, and so, etc. 

5. Causative, those which assign a reason for an 
inference previously expressed. 

15. The soil is fertile, for the crop is abundant. 

16. Employ the present wisely, since the future is uncertain. 

17. It will soon rain, because the wind is in the east. 

The conjunctions used are for, because, and since. 



174 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Obs. — To render style more vigorous, or for the sake of brevity, 
the conjunctions are frequently omitted. 

1. Temperance promotes health ; intemperance destroys it. 

2. The way was long, the wind was cold, 
The minstrel was infirm and old. — Scott. 

Exercise. 

(a) Construct sentences illustrating each form of the 
compound sentence described. 

(b) Construct three compound sentences illustrating 
each class of members described. 

(c) Construct three compound sentences, omitting the 
conjunctions. 

MODEL FOR ANALYSIS. 

171. Model X. Life is a flower, and love is its perfume. 

This is a compound declarative sentence, because it 
contains two propositions. Life is a flower is the first 
member, and love is its perfume is the second member. 
And is the conjunction. Life is the subject of the first 
member, and is floioer is the grammatical predicate. Is 
is the copula and flower the attribute. Flower is modi- 
fied by a, an adjective element. Is a floioer is the logical 
predicate. Love is the subject of the second member, 
and is perfume is the grammatical predicate. Is is the 
copula and perfume the attribute. Perfume is modified 
by its, an adjective element. Is its perfume is the logical 
predicate. 

This analysis may be diagrammed thus : 

Life is JL flower 

and a 

love is JL perfume. 

its 



ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE. 175 



(a) Analyze the examples in Sees. 168-170. 

(b) Analyze the following sentences : 

1. Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. — Pope. 

2. There is no den in the whole world to hide a rogue, 
Commit a crime, and the earth is made of glass. 

— Emerson. 

3. Greatness is gained by a winding stair, and the power to 
do good is the true and lawful end of aspiring. — Bacon. 

4- Men who make money rarely saunter ; men who save 
money rarely swagger. — Bulwer Lytton. 

5. To live long is almost every man's ambition, but to live 
well is the ambition of a few. — Hughes. 

6. If you prick us, do we not bleed ? If you tickle us, do 
we not laugh ? If you poison us, do we not die ? — Shakspere. 

7. Her little bird — a poor, slight thing the pressure of a 
hand would have crushed — was stirring nimbly in its cage, and 
the strong heart of its child-mistress was mute and motionless 
forever. — Dickens. 

8. In the old church tower 

Hangs the bell; 
You can hear its great heart beat, 
Ah ! so loud, and wild, and sweet, 
As the parson says a prayer 
Over wedded lovers there, 

And all is well.— T. B. Aldrich. 

9. Then none were for the party ; 

Then all were for the State; 
Then the great man help'd the poor, 

And the poor man loved the great. — Macatjlay. 
10. The smallest effort is not lost ; 
Each wavelet on the ocean toss'd 
Aids in the ebb tide or the flow; 
Each rain-drop makes some flow'ret blow. 
Each struggle lessens human woe. — Charles Mackay. 



176 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

11. With deep affection and recollection 

I often think of those Shandon bells, 
Whose sounds so wild would, in days of childhood. 

Fling round my cradle their magic spells. 
On this I ponder, where'er I wander, 
And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, of thee ; 
With thy bells of Shandon 
That sound so grand on 
The pleasant waters of the River Lee. 

— Francis Mahoney. 



DIAGRAMS. 

172. The principal use of a diagram is to indicate 
the functions of the words, phrases, and clauses of a 
sentence in such a manner as to enable the teacher to 
see at a glance whether the pupil has or has not a correct 
idea of its structure. 

The system here presented is simple, yet quite com- 
prehensive. It requires little space on the board or 
paper, and little art to make the work neat. 

Simple Sentences. 

173. The principal elements are separated by a 
horizontal line of convenient length. The attribute is 
separated from the copulative verb, when adjective in 
office, thus 1, as in diagrams 1, 3 following ; when sub- 
stantive in office, thus 1, as in diagrams 5, 6. 

Subordinate elements, whether words, phrases, or 
clauses, are written in vertical columns under and a 
little to the right of the words which they modify, as in 
diagrams 5, 6. If the modified word is a noun, the 
modifier is an adjective element ; if a verb or verbal, it 
may be either adverbial or objective. If the modifier is 



THE SENTENCE— DIAGRAMS. Ill 

an objective element, it is symbolized thus o. When 
thought advisable to distinguish the indirect and attrib- 
utive objects, the latter may be symbolized thus ©, as in 
diagram 4, and the former e, as in diagram 5, Sec. 174. 

Coordinate or double combinations, whether principal 
or subordinate elements, are connected by a brace (— *— ). 
This should include any modifier which refers alike to 
the several members connected, as in diagrams 3, 4, 11. 

Coordinate conjunctions are written between the mem- 
bers they connect, as in diagrams 3, 9. 

Words understood are enclosed in parentheses, as in 
diagrams 10, 11. 

Independent elements are written above the subject, 
as in diagram 2. 

Exercise. 

Analyze the following sentences ; notice carefully the 
position of the elements in each diagram, and the sym- 
bols employed: 

1. One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of 
warning. — Holmes. 



thorn is 


J_ worth 


One 


wilderness 


of experience 


a 
whole 




of warning. 


ult, dear Brutus, 


is not in our stars. 


Brutus, 




dear 




fault, 


- is 


The 


not 




in stars. 




our 



178 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



3. Their says Ms and says she's are proverbial. — Macaulay. 

says he's 

and are _L proverbial. 

says she's 
Their 

Here the expressions says he's and says she's are taken 
as single words. Quotations are also so taken, as in — 

"Hurrah! hurrah!" was heard along the line. 

4. A glutted market makes provision cheap. — Pope. 

market makes 

A j provision O 

glutted < cheap. © 

m 5. The only argument available with an east wind is to put 
on your overcoat. 

argument is _!L to put 

The on 

only overcoat. O 

available your 

with wind 



east 



6. A halter made of silk is a halter still. — Colly Cibber. 

halter is JL halter 

A still, a 



of silk 

7. Three fishers went sailing out into the west. 

— Charles Kingsley. 

fishers went 

Three sailing 

out 

into west 
the 



THE SENTENCE— DIAGRAMS. 179 

8. To converse with historians is to keep good company. 

— BOLINGBROKE. 

To converse is _1L to keep 

with historians company. O 

good 

9. To get by giving and to lose by keeping, 
Is to be sad in mirth and glad in weeping. 

— Chris. Harvey. 
( To get ( to be sad 

1 by giving ] in mirth 

~\ and Is l"j and 

| to lose | (to be) glad 

by keeping, " in weeping. 

10. All his opinions, all his feelings, spin round and round 
bike a weathercock in a whirlwind. — Macaulat. 

' opinions, 
All 
his 

I (and) spin 

round and round 
feelings like 

all weathercock 

his a 

in whirlwind, 
a 

11. Such an end, many years previously, this sister and wife 
and mother of emperors had anticipated and despised. 

-F. W. Farrar. 
'sister I had anticipated 

and 1 and 

wife | (had) de spised. 

and end, O 

mother Such 

"this an 

of emperors previously, 

years 
many 



180 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Complex Sentences. 

174. Clauses are diagrammed like the simple sen- 
tences. Used as the subjects of complex sentences, they 
are enclosed by brackets, as in 1 below ; used as modifiers, 
they are placed under the words which they modify in 
such a manner as to bring the subordinate conjunction, 
followed by the subject, under the modified word, as in 
2. If the connective is also a modifier, the subject 
appears under the modified word, and the connective 
under the word which it modifies, as in 3, 4, 5. All sub- 
ordinate connectives, whether pure conjunctions, relative 
pronouns, or conjunctive adverbs, are underscored. 

EXEKCISE. 

Analyze the following sentences; notice carefully the 
position of the elements in each diagram, and the sym- 
bols employed : 

/. That right makes might was the faith of Lincoln. 

[That right makes] was JL faith 

might O the 

of Lincoln. 

2. Remember that time is money. — Franklin. 

(thou) Remember 

that time is _ money. O 

3. Can you explain why you invert the divisor ? 

you Can explain 

you invert O 

divisor ?0 

the 
why 



THE SENTENCE — DIA OEA MS. 



181 



4. Logic never can be strict where books are scarce, and 
where information is oral. — Macaulay. 



Logic 



can be _L strict 
never 

books are _L scarce, 

and where 



information 



is J_ oral, 
where 



5. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the 
free — honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. 

— Lincoln. 
we 



honorable 
alike 

/"we- 



iii 



and 
we - 



give 
what O 



preserve. 
whatO 



assure 
freedom O 
to free — © 

the 
In giving 

freedom O 
to slave, 9 
the 



honorable 
alike 
' (that) 
we 

and 
(that) 
we 



give 
(which) O 



preserve. 

(which) O 



freedom O 
to free — © 

the 
In giving 

freedom O 
to slave, © 
the 



>:. He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing. — Franklin. 



Be 



that goes 

a borrowing 



oes 
a sorrowing. 



Obs. — Here « is a preposition — the remnant of on. 



182 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Compound Sentences. 

175. The members of a compound sentence, when 
they are simple propositions, are diagrammed in the 
same manner as the simple sentence, and are enclosed in a 
brace, as in 1, 2. When the members are complex (contain 
clauses), they are diagrammed after the manner of a 
complex sentence, and enclosed in a brace, as in 4, 5. 

Exercise. 

Analyze the following sentences ; notice carefully the 
position of the elements in each diagram, and the sym- 
bols employed : 

1. We read to inform ourselves : we write to express our 
thoughts. 

We read 

to inform 

ourselves: O 
(and) 

we write 

to express 

thoughts. O 
our 

2. The character of Milton was peculiarly distinguished by 
loftiness of thought; that of Dante by intensity of feeling. 

— Macaulay. 



character 

The 

of Milton 


— was distinguished 
peculiarly 
by loftiness 


(and) 


of thought 


that 

of Dante 


— (was distinguished) 
by intensity 

of feeling. 



THE SENTENCE— DIAGRAMS. 183 

3. The aim of the Platonic philosophy was to raise us above 
vulgar wants; the aim of the Baconian philosophy was to supply 
our vulgar wants. — Macaulay. 

im was JL to raise 

The usO 

of philosophy above wants; 

the vulgar 

Platonic 

im was _L to supply 

the wants. O 

of philosophy our 

the vulgar 

Baconian 

4. If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink. 

(thou) feed 

him; 

If enemy hunger, 

thine 
(thou) give 

hime 

drink. O 

if he thirst. 

5. Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I 
will lodge : thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. 

— Ruth. 

I will go; 

thou goest, 

and whither 

I will lodge; 

thou lodgest, 

where 

people shall be JL people, 

thy my 

and 

God (shall be) JL God. 

thy my 



184 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



EXAMPLES IOI1 ANALYSIS. 



1. A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. 

— Bacon. 

2. Every language is a temple in which the soul of those who 
speak it is enshrined— O. W. Holmes. 

3. Prove that the product of the means is equal to the product 
of the extremes. 

4. Man is not the creature of circumstances. Circumstances 
are the creatures of men.— Disraeli. 

5. Love not pleasure, love God. This is the everlasting Yea, 
wherein all contradiction is solved — Carlyle. 

6. It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the 
privilege of wisdom to listen. — O. W. Holmes. 

7. The geologist moves along on paths worn deeply by the 
divine foot-prints. — Agassiz. 

8. The curtains of yesterday drop down, the curtains of to- 
morrow roll up; but yesterday and to-morrow both are. — Carlyle. 

9. Nothing is lost by stopping to pray or to feed your horse. 

10. Fame is a vapor ; popularity, an accident ; riches take wings ; 
those who cheer to-day will curse to-morrow ; only one thing 
remains — character. — Greeley. 

11. Victor Hugo declared that he was sure that he should live 
beyond the grave, because he felt his soul to be full of hymns and 
poems he had not had time to write. 

12. Laws are the very bulwarks of liberty. The moment that 
law is destroyed, liberty is lost; and men, left free to enter the 
domains of each other, destroy each other's rights and invade the 
field of each other's liberty. — J. G. Holland. 

13. Sow a thought, and reap an act; sow an act, and reap a 
habit ; sow a habit, and reap a character ; sow a character, and 
reap a destiny. — Spanish Proverb. 

14. A man's country is not an acre of land, but is a principle ; 
and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. — George W. Curtis. 

15. No life that breathes with human breath 
Has ever truly longed for death. — Tennyson. 

16. Something attempted, something done, 

Has earned a night's repose. — Lonofellow. 

17. Follow pleasure, and then will pleasure flee; 

Flee pleasure, and pleasure will follow thee. — HeyWOOD 



THE SENTENCE— EQUIVALENTS. 185 

18. More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.— Tennyson. 

19. Mont Blanc is the monarch of mountains; 

They crowned him long ago 
On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds, 
With a diadem of snow. — Byron. 

20. Our deeds still travel with us from afar, 

And what we have been makes us what we are. 

— George Eliot. 

21. A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich; 
A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong ; 
Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense 

Of service which thou renderest. — Mrs. Browning. 



EQUIVALENTS. 

176. Words, phrases, and clauses performing the same 
office, though differing in form, are called equivalents. 

1. She writes easily — She writes with ease. 

2. An honest man = A man of honesty = A man who is honest. 

3. He appears thrifty = He appears as if he were thrifty. 

4. Stealing is base = To steal is base. 

5. He hopes that he may be successful = He hopes to be successful. 

6. I knew that it teas he = I knew it to be him. 

7. I was not aware that he was my enemy = I was not aware 

of his being my enemy. 

8. You requested that I leave = You requested me to leave. 

9. That one should steal is base — For one to steal is base. 

10. Wlien shame is lost, all virtue is lost = Shame being lost, 
all virtue is lost. 

The above examples show that the form of a sentence 
may be changed by the use of equivalents without pro- 
ducing a material change of meaning. 



Note to Teacher.— Since variety of expression is gained by a proper use of 
equivalents, a somewhat detailed statement of their forms is given, that the pupil 
may see their utility and be able to apply them in the art of composition. 



186 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

177. Simple sentences are made complex by 
expanding — 

7. Words into clauses. 

1. Leaving, they bade us farewell = When they left they 

bade us farewell. 

2. Generous men will gain friends = Men who are gener- 

ous will gain friends. 

3. That is a policy dangerous to any people = That is a 

policy which is dangerous to any people. 

2. Prepositional phrases into clauses. 

4. A man of no convictions can hardly be trusted = A man 

who has no convictions can hardly be trusted. 

5. At sunset we arrived = As the sun set we arrived. 

6. During the passage of the procession it rained con- 

stantly = While tlie procession was passing it 
rained constantly. 

3. Participial phrases into clauses. 

7. Knowing him not, ye receive him not = Because ye 

knoto him not, ye receive him not. 

8. Being just, he feared no danger = Because he was just, 

he feared no danger. 

9. He fell clinging to the branches = He fell while he 

was clinging to the branches. 

10. Ships freighted with coal will soon arrive = Ships ichich 

are freighted with coal will soon arrive. 

4- Infinitive phrases into clauses. 

11. Time to come is called future = Time which is to come 

is called future. 

12. He went to the river to catch some fish = He went to 

the river that he might catch some fish. 



THE SENTENCE— EQUIVALENTS. 



187 



5. Infinitives (with assumed subjects) into clauses. 

13. I knew it to be him = I knew that it was he. 

14. He ordered the goods to be shipped = He ordered that 

the goods be shipped. 

15. She requested me to remain = She requested that I 

remain. 

16. For one to bribe is criminal = That one should bribe is 

criminal. 

6. Absolute constructions into clauses. 

17. The war being ended, the army was disbanded = Wfien 

the war was ended, the army was disbanded. 
IS Their supplies being exhausted, the city surrendered = 

Because their supplies were exhausted, the city 

surrendered. 
19. The wind blowing furiously, we did not embark = As 

the loind blew furiously, we did not embark. 



Exercise. 



(a) Analyze the following sentences: 



Speaking, she appealed to all hearts. 

Plain, honest truth needs no coloring. 

On our arrival at the dock we were greeted 

loud huzzas. 
A man without a country deserves pity. 
Built on the sand, the house fell. 
Things seen are temporal. 
To see her is to love her. 
He had many lessons to learn. 
To become a scholar is his desire. 
The child looks to be innocent. 
The enemy approaching, we prepared for battle. 
The white flag being raised, hostilities ceased. 
For you to deceive is criminal. 
They considered him to be upright. 



with 



(b) Expand the above sentences into complex sen- 
tences. 



188 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(c) Construct simple sentences containing adverbs 
which may be changed to equivalent phrases; adjectives 
which may be changed to equivalent clauses,, and infini- 
tives which may be changed to equivalent clauses. 

(d) Construct simple sentences containing preposi- 
tional phrases which may be changed to equivalent 
clauses ; absolute constructions which may be changed 
to equivalent clauses, and infinitives with subjects which 
may be changed to equivalent clauses. 

178. Complex sentences are made compound by 
expanding clauses into propositions ; this is done by 
changing the subordinate connective to a coordinate. 

1. If there be a frost, the leaves will wither = There is a 

frost, and the leaves will wither. 

2. When the morning dawned, all fears were dispelled = 

The morning dawned, and all fears were dispelled. 

3. Because he was ambitious, I slew him — He was ambi- 

tious, therefore I slew him. 

Exercise. 

(a) Analyze the following complex sentences: 

1. Since he is honest, people respect him. 

.'. 1'nless you control your passions, they will control you. 

3. Since man has a moral sense, he is an accountable being. 

4. Though they have been vanquished, they have not lost 

their honor. 

5. Though patients die. the doctor's paid. 
G. If you persevere, you will succeed. 

7. Beware lest j t ou fall. 

8. If you carry ability into your business, you will prosper. 

(h) Change the above sentences to compound sen- 
tences. 



THE SENTENCE— EQUIVALENTS. 189 

179. Compound sentences are made complex fey 
reducing propositions to clauses. This often requires a 
change of mode as well as a change of the coordinate 
connective for a subordinate. 

1. Be studious, and you will learn = If you are studious, 

you will learn. 

2. We study grammar, but we do not abandon history = 

While ice study grammar, we do not abandon 
history. 

EXEKCISE. 

(a) Analyze the following compound sentences : 

1. He is oldj yet he is strong and vigorous. 

2. Slight is our labor and small is our gain. 

3. We must use opportunities or lose our ventures. 
4- He lost his life, but he did not lose his honor. 
5. Speak boldly, but see that thou offend not. 

(b) Change the above sentences to complex sentences. 

(c) Write complex sentences which may be changed to 
compound ; compound, which may be changed to complex. 

180. Complex sentences are made simple by abridg- 
ing clauses — 

1. To equivalent adjectives. 

1. We admire paintings that are suggestive = We admire 

suggestive paintings. 

2. He talked of the years that were past = He talked of 

past years. 

2. To equivalent prepositional phrases. 

3. Students investigate, that they may learn the facts of his- 

tory = Students investigate for the facts of history. 

4. I did not learn that you were coming = I did not learn 

of your coming. 



190 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. To equivalent participial phrases. 

5. I regret that I did not ?iear the oration = I regret not 

having heard the oration. 

6. As I wo* detained bg an accident, I failed to report = 

Homing been detained by an accident, I failed to 
report. 

A. To equivalent phrases in the absolute construction. 

7. As a youth teas their leader, what could they do? = J. 

youth being their leader, what could they do? 

8. Since the storm has ceased, you may go = The storm 

hoeing ceased, you may go. 

5. To equivalent infinitive phrases. 

9. He went that he might see you = He went to see you. 

10. He expected that he would leave = He expected to 

6. To equivalent infinitives (with assumed subjects). 

11. He expected that you would sing = He expected you 

to sing. 

12. I knew that he >ras a physician — I knew him to be 

a physician. 



EXKHUIHK. 

(a) Analyze the following complex sentences : 

1. If you study, you shall learn the facts. 

.'. I can not go unless you accompany me. 

3. They fought that they might gain their freedom. 

4- I regret that I can not see you. 

5. As he was delayed by a slow train, he could not enter 

the contest. 

6. That he lacked energy was generally known. 

7. The culprit, who was convicted of stealing, was incar- 

cerated. 

8. Since the clouds have passed, we may not fear. 



THE SENTENCE —GO TERNlfENT. 191 

9. As our time was limited, we took the fastest train. 

10. He pretended that he was satisfied. 

11. Men read that they may command the world's experi- 

ence. 

12. "We think that he is a gentleman. 

13. Men travel that they may learn the character of other 

nations and peoples. 

14. Experience proves that virtue is its own reward. 

15. Nature is full of wealth that is now undiscovered. 

16. Happiness that is shared with others is the most ex- 

quisite. 

17. Men who are positive are sometimes in error. 

(b) Change the foregoing sentences to simple sen- 
tences. 

(c) Construct complex sentences, the clauses of which 
may be abridged to equivalent adjectives, to equiva- 
lent prepositional phrases, and to equivalent participial 
phrases. 

(d) Construct complex sentences, the clauses of which 
may be abridged to equivalent absolute constructions, 
to equivalent infinitive phrases, and to equivalent infini- 
tives (with assumed subjects). 



GOVERNMENT, CONCORD, AND ORDER. 

181. The three principles that regulate the gram- 
matical construction of sentences are government, concord, 
and order. 

Government. 

182. Government is the influence that a verb or 
preposition exerts upon a noun or pronoun in determin- 
ing its case. Thus a transitive verb requires its object, 



192 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

when a noun or a pronoun, to be in the objective case. 
Following are the rules for the government of words : 

1. A noun or a pronoun, used as the subject of a verb, 
must he in the nominative case. 

1. 7 am ready; are you? 

2. She is older than 1. 

3. He can not recite, nor can you. 

4. Who do you think met us? 

5. Do we see 

The robber and the murderer weak as we? 
— Milton. 

Obs. — By the above rule is meant that the subject must have 
the form of the nominative case. This is apparent only in the 
case of pronouns. 

2. A noun or a pronoun, used as the attribute of a 
copulative verb, must be in the nominative case. 

6. Franklin was a philosopher. 

7. It was I, not he. 

8. Is it we you wish to see? 

9. It was not she who called. 

10. And it was he that made the ship to go. 

— Coleridge. 

3. The assumed subject of an infinitive must be in 
the objective case. 

11. They induced him to leave the city. 

12. He required us to be firm. 

13. Why should we direct them to go? 

14. For one to offer a bribe is base. 

4- An infinitive must take the same case after it as 
before it. 

15. I knew it to be him. 

16. We thought him to be a brave man. 

17. He advised me to become a sailor. 



THE SENTENCE— GOVERNMENT. 



193 



5. The object of a transitive verb, or verbal, must 
be in the objective case. 

18. We saw him reading the paper. 

19. Whom can I trust more than him? 

20. We sent him to command the recruits. 

6. The object of a preposition must be in the objective 

case. 

21. We saw the home of Longfellow. 

22. Are these pearls for you or me? 

23. Every hour lost by them is an hour gained by us. 



Exercise. 

(a) Analyze the examples under the several rules for 
government. 



(b) Account for the case of each 
the following sentences : 
1 



italicized word in 



You and I will be allowed to go. 

Did you see us girls at the opera? 

I knew it as well as he or she. 

He can run faster than /. 

These are the sailors whom we captured. 

They that seek Wisdom shall find her. 

It is he, not /, that is to blame. 

Were / she, I would learn who it is. 

We do not believe it to be her. 

Will you allow him and me to row the boat? 

She did not know whom to send. 

Do you know whom he married? 

Can you tell whom, he is speaking to? 

All except us went down to the beach. 



(c) Construct three sentences illustrating each of 
the foregoing six rules. 



194 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



Concord. 

183. Concord is the agreement in case, gender, 
number, 'person, mode, or tense of two connected words. 
Following are the chief rules for concord : 

1. A verb must agree with its subject in person and 
number. 

1. The boy is playing while the girls are singing. 

2. You are glad, while I am sad. 

3. She goes to Europe; we remain at home. 

4. Thou talkest well; he talks ill. 

(a) In many cases the meaning of the subject, rather 
than its form, determines its number, and therefore the 
form of the verb to be used. 

5. Mathematics is a useful science. 

6. Good news has cheered us. 

7. The sheep are in the fold. 

8. The sheep is tame. 

9. Enough has been done already. 

10. Enough were present for a quorum. 

11. A number of the crew were lost. 

12. The number lost teas ten. 

13. His pains were severe. 

14. Great pains was taken to insure success. 

15. The choir has a meeting to-night. 

16. Our choir are singers of note. 

(b) Two or more singular subjects united by and 
generally require a plural verb ; united by or, eitlier-or, 
neither-nor, they require a singular verb. 

17. Time and tide wait for no man. 
IS. John or James was present. 

19. Either he or she is to blame. 



THE SENTENCE— CONCORD. 195 

(c) When connected subjects have a singular mean- 
ing, or when they are taken distributively, the verb 
must be singular. 

20. Bread and milk is a poor food. 

21. Every boy and girl was ready. 

22. The father as well as the son agrees to sign the note. 

23. For wide is heard the thundering fray, 
The rout, the ruin, and dismay. — Scott. 



(d) When two or more subjects of different numbers 
and persons are united, the verb should generally agree 
with the one nearest it, or the one most prominent in 
thought. 

24. Either you or I am to go. 

25. Either he or you are to go. 

26. One or two of the ladies were 

27. Were you or he present ? 



2. Appositives must be in the same case as the nouns 
which they limit. 

28. Cicero, the orator, wrote many books. 

29. Have you seen Frank Brown, the cadet? 

30. Franklin, lie of Arctic fame, was lost. 

31. They sang a ballad of Whittiefs, the poet's. 



3. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in 
person, number, and gender. 

32. England expects every man to do his duty. 

33. Each woman has received her reward. 

34. Each of the birds was put into its cage. 

35. We know all the pupils of our school, and can call 

tliem by their names. 



196 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(a) When the gender of the antecedent is indefinite, 
the masculine form of the pronoun is used. 

36. There is no one without his trials. 

37. Each one must do his work for himself. 

38. Every person should make himself useful. 

39. No person can tell how long he may live. 

(b) When the antecedent is a collective noun, the 
pronoun should be singular if the noun implies unity; 
plural, if it implies plurality. 

40. The jury has given its verdict. 

41. The jury could not make up their minds. 

42. Every family has its peculiar traits. 

43. All the family went to their country home. 

44. The committee has transacted its business. 
46. The committee have returned to their homes. 



(c) When the antecedents are of different persons or 
numbers, the pronoun should agree with the one nearest 
it, or with the one most prominent in thought. 

46. Neither you nor he has his lesson. 

47. Either he or his brothers brought their work. 

48. If she or her friends arrive, greet them for me. 

(d) When the pronoun refers to two or more ante- 
cedents, if the antecedents are taken collectively, it is 
plural ; if the antecedents are taken distributively, it is 
singular. 

49. You and I must solve our problem. 

50. Hill and valley echo back their songs. 

51. Every man, woman, and child hath his trials. 

52. Neither Joseph nor Samuel has his lessons. 

53. Every birch and every elm will shed its leaves. 

54. No teacher and no friend offered me his aid. 



THE SENTENCE— CONCORD. 197 

If. Adjectives that imply number must agree in 
number with the nouns they limit. 

55. I have this kind of shoes. 

56. I prefer that sort of shoes. 

57. Tlwse kinds of hats are beautiful. 

58. I've not seen him this twenty years. 

59. I've whiled away this many summers in these dells. 

Obs. — The expressions this ticenty years and this many summers 
are justifiable on the ground that, as they refer to a certain period 
of time, the idea is singular. 

5. The tense of a verb in a clause must harmonize 
with the tense of the verb in the proposition. 

GO. He says that he has read the letter. 

61. I said that I had read six lines. 

62. If I receive the appointment I shall accept it. 

63. If you would recite " The Famine " we should be pleased. 

64. If I could get time I would read "Sevenoaks." 

65. If I could have found time I would have read "Romola." 

66. If I have time to-morrow I will read ' ' Othello. " 

67. If he should start in a week we woidd meet him. 

General truths are expressed by the present tense 
regardless of the tense of other verbs in the sentence. 

68. He knew that two and two are four. 

69. They knew that vice iwoduces misery. 

70. He felt that God is just. 

71. Galileo maintained that the earth moves. 

6. The present infinitive is used when reference is 
made to a time coincident with, or after, that of the verb. 

72. He promised to go at once. 

73. I hoped to come sooner. 

74. I meant to see the Coliseum while in Chicago. 

75. We expected to go before this. 



198 ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

7. The perfect infinitive is used when reference is 
made to a time prior to that expressed by the verb. 

72. You appear to have seen better days. 

73. He appeared to have seen better days. 

74. I believed him to have been wronged. 



8. Certain adjectives and adverbs, as well as con- 
junctions, require after them special conjunctions. 

Thus such, implying comparison, requires as; imply- 
ing cause or effect, that; so and as, implying comparison, 
as; so, implying result or effect, that; both, and; or, 
or; nor, nor; either, or; neither, nor; though, yet; 
whether, or, etc. 

75. He is not such an orator as was Webster. 

76. Her health is not such that she can work. 

77. He is not so tall as his father. 

78. James is as tall as John. 

79. He lifted the latch so high that the string fell out. 

80. Both religion and reason condemn excess. 

81. Though he is rich, yet he is charitable. 

82. Whether to praise or to blame him, we know not. 

9. Certain derivative nouns, adjectives, and verbs 
require special prepositions. 

S3. This is different from that (not than). 
84. I was diverted by the music (not with). 

As a general rule, the preposition should agree in 
meaning with the prefix of the derivative word which 
the phrase limits ; as, ad-here to ; e.r-pel from or out of. 
Sometimes the meaning of the stem rather than that of 
the prefix determines the preposition to be used ; as, ab- 
horrence of, for; en-durance of. 



THE SENTENCE— CONCORD. 199 

Obs. I. — In, at, on, and by are used with verbs to imply rest. 
Referring to places, in is used before the names of countries and 
large cities, at before the names of small towns and foreign points. 

1. He sat in the parlor. 

2. It lies on the table. 

3. The rug lay by the door. 

4. They reside in Chicago. 

5. My sister is in Europe. 

6. Our friends are at Bar Harbor. 



Obs. II. — To, into, unto, for, toward, and towards imply motion 
with direction. 

1. They marched to the sea. 

2. She came into the house. 

3. He set his face toward the wilderness. 

4. The waves make towards the pebbled shore. 



Obs. III. — Beticeen is used with two objects, or with two 
groups ; among, amid, and amidst, with several objects taken in 
the aggregate. 

1. Between you and me no quarrel can arise. 

2. The money was divided among the four men. 

3. She persevered amidst many difficulties. 



Obs. IV. — Beside is used with the sense of by the side of, 
besides with the sense of addition to. 

1. He leadeth me beside the still waters. 

2. There is nothing at all besides this manna. 



Obs. V.— Of and in arc used indifferently with adjectives 
implying behavior, or disposition. 

/. How cruel of him ! 

2. That was honorable in you. 

3. It is too bad in me to detain yon so long. 



200 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Obs. VI. — On. and upon are used interchangeably. On, how- 
ever, is preferred except when the idea of height or of time is to 
be expressed. 

1. I placed the book on the table. 

2. We found the axes on the ground. 

3. He stood upon the roof. 

4. Upon our arrival, we heard sweet music. 



Exercise. 

(a) Analyze the examples under the several rules for 
concord. 

(b) Account for the person and number of the itali- 
cized words in the following sentences : 

1. Where were you at break of day ? 

2. Has either of you seen my pencil ? 

3. Neither the major nor the colonel was present. 

4. Pharaoh, with his whole army, was drowned in the 

Red Sea. 

5. When were you invited ? 

6. Nothing but trials seems to await me. 

7. What are the person and number of the following 

verbs ? 
S. If three yards of silk cost two dollars, what do two 

yards cost? 
9. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. 

10. In some countries the peasantry go barefoot. 

11. No, says he ; but yes, say I. 

12. I am a man that lias met the foe. 



(c) Construct sentences, using as subjects : Words 
which are plural in form but singular in meaning; col- 
lective nouns that require a singular verb ; collective 
nouns that require a plural verb. 



THE SENTENCE— CONCORD. 201 

(d) Construct sentences illustrating the correct use of 
plural verbs after singular subjects united by and; singular 
verbs after two or more subjects that are singular in 
meaning ; singular verbs after two or more subjects taken 
distributively ; verbs with two or more subjects of differ- 
ent persons ; verbs with two or more subjects of different 
numbers. 

(e) Account for the case of each appositive in the 
following sentences : 

13. Hand this pencil to young Jones, him that stands by 

the window. 

14. Smith, he that won the prize, has gone to Boston. 

15. My sister Julia's home is in Philadelphia. 

16. Did you stop at my brother John's? 

17. I mean Noah Webster, him that wrote the dictionary. 

(/) Construct sentences illustrating the use of apposi- 
tives in the nominative case; in the possessive case; in 
the objective case. 

(g) Account for the person, number, and gender of 
the italicized pronouns in the following sentences : 

18. Let everyone answer for himself. 

19. Let each man raise his hand. 

20. If anyone wants it, let him say so. 

21. Any man wishing to sell Ms horses will find a purchaser. 

22. The committee was unanimous in its action. 

23. The jury could not agree in their verdict. 

24. Can anyone be sure that he is not deceived? 

25. This is the lesson which you announced. 

26. Now you have heard the news, what do you think of it? 

(h) Construct sentences showing the agreement of 
the pronoun with antecedents of indefinite gender ; with 



202 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

two or more antecedents taken collectively ; with two or 
more antecedents taken distribntively. 

(i) Construct sentences illustrating the correct use of 
singular pronouns with collective nouns ; plural pronouns 
with collective nouns ; pronouns with two or more ante- 
cedents of different persons ; pronouns with two or more 
antecedents of different numbers. 

( j) Account for the number of each italicized adjec- 
tive in the following sentences : 

27. I don't like this sort of shoes. 

28. Is it safe to trust this kind of people? 

29. Have you noticed those variations of the spectroscope? 

30. That kind of pictures is worth having. 

(k) Construct sentences illustrating the agreement of 
adjectives implying number. 

(I) Account for the tense of each italicized verb or 
verbal in the following : 

31. If I can meet John, I will tell him of your fortune. 

32. If I could see him to-morrow, I would explain all. 

33. Would that he had spoken to me about this wrong. 

34. I expected to hear from them before this. 

35. If you had arrived on time, I might have planned to go 

with you. 

36. I intended to write you on Monday. 

37. How far did you say it is from Chicago to St. Louis ? 

(m) Construct sentences illustrating the agreement of 
the verbs in clauses with those in the propositions. 

(n) Construct sentences in which the verbs in the 
propositions are in the past tense and those in the 
clauses state general truths. 



THE SENTENCE— CONCORD. 



203 



(o) Construct sentences in which present infinitives 
are used after the past tense of the verbs ; present-perfect 
infinitives are used after the past tense of the verbs. 



(p) Construct sentences illustrating the correct use 
of such — as; such — that; so — as; so — that; as — as; 
both — and; though — yet, etc. 



(g) Construct sentences illustrating the correct use 
of the following combinations, and note carefully the 
different relations expressed by the several prepositions. 
When uncertain of the proper use, consult the dictionary 
for both the preposition and the accompanying word : 



abound in, with 
abhorrence of 
adapt to 
acquit of 
accord with 
affinity for, between 
blush at, for 
boast of 
call at, on, for 
change for, witli 
confide in, to 
conversant icitli 
correspond wit?/, to 
deficient in 
devolve on, upon 
differ from, with 
die of, by 
difference between 
dissent from 
distinguished by, from 
disappointed in, <f 
expert in, at 
familiar tn, with 
glad for, at, of 



impatient for, of 

indulge in, with 

inquire after, for, into 

marry to, with 

reconciled to, by 

reflect on, upon 

regard for, to 

rejoice at, with 

similar to 

sit in, on, upon 

smile at, upon 

sink beneath, in, into 

strive for, with, against 

taste of, for 

think of, on 

thirst for, after 

true of, to 

useful for, in, into 

versed in 

weary of, in, with 

wait on, for, at, in 

want of, in, 

touch at, en, upon 

worthy of 



204 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



Order. 



184. Order is such an arrangement of the elements 
of a sentence as will clearly and forcibly express the 
meaning intended. 

Since in English there is but little inflection, the 
relation or office of words is shown by their position in the 
sentence. Order is therefore of great importance in deter- 
mining the sense. It may be either natural or inverted. 

The fundamental principles governing the arrange- 
ment of elements have been clearly stated by Dr. Alex- 
ander Bain as follows : 

What is thought of first should be mentioned first. 

Things thought of together should be placed in close 
connection. 

185. The natural order is (1) the simple subject, 
preceded by its word modifiers and followed by its phrase 
and clause modifiers ; (2) the simple predicate accompa- 
nied by its modifiers. 

1. The sports of children satisfy the child. 

2. The science of astronomy teaches many wonderful facts. 

3. The reason why I came is understood. 

4. The angel, Pity, shuns the walks of war. — E. DARwrN. 

186. In the inverted order the subject is placed 
after the verb, or between the parts of a verb-phrase. 
The inverted order is used — 

1. To form interrogative sentences. 

1. Were the floods destructive ? 

2. Why do clouds float in the air? 

3. Is true freedom but to break 

Fetters for our own dear sake? — Lowell. 



THE SENTENCE— ORDER. 205 

2. To form imperative sentences when the subject 
is expressed. 

4. Stand thou here. 

5. Hear ye him. 

6. Be thou near me ever. 

7. Come ye to the waters. 

3. In sentences or clauses introduced by the expletive 
there or here. 

8. There was no better way. 

9. Here followed accusations and resolutions. 

10. There is a budding sorrow in midnight. — Keats. 

4. In conditional clauses when the connectives are 
omitted. 

11. Had you written, I should have come. 

12. Were I so disposed, I could not gratify you. 

13. Should he ask a pardon, it will be granted. 

5. To emphasize certain elements and give variety 
of expression. 

14. Down came the armies from the North. 

15. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord ! 

16. How beautiful is sleep! — Shelley. 

17. Like leviathans afloat 

Lay their bulwarks on the brine. — Campbell. 



187. The attribute is placed — 

1. By the natural order, after the copulative verb. 

1. The best elixir is & friend. — Somerville. 

2. The three Bronte sisters became novelists. 
8. The days are warm, the nights cool. 

4. Every man is the maker of his own fortune. — Carlyle. 



206 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

2. By the inverted order, before the verb for the 
sake of emphasis. 

5. Sublime is the stillness of night. 

6. Sweet was the breath of that May morn. 

7. She it was to whom I wrote. 

8. Great is truth, and mighty above all things. — Esdras. 



188. For the sake of clearness, all modifiers should 
be placed where there can be no doubt as to what ele- 
ments they belong. The following are general rules for 
their position : 

1. The object, except when a relative, follotos a tran- 
sitive verb or verbal. 

1. Rolling stones gather no moss. 

2. We can never forget you. 

3. Always improve the present hour. 

//.. We, by our sufferings, learn to prize our bliss. 

— Dryden. 

2. The object, when a relative or an interrogative, 

precedes the verb. 

5. This is the path which we took. 

6. Here are the books thai you need. 

7. Invite the friends whom you visited. 

8. What should they know of England who only England 

know ? — Kipling. 

3. The object precedes the verb for the sake of em- 
phasis or euphony. 

9. His vices I abhor; his virtues I commend. 

10. Him I must see : her I will hear. 

11. All these questions we considered carefully. 

12. Honey from out the gnarled hive I'll bring. — Keats. 



THE SENTENCE ' — ORDER. 207 

189. Adjectives may limit a noun or pronoun in 
any part of a sentence. Following are the general rules 
for their position : 

1. Adjectives should be placed near the words they 
are intended to limit. 

1. He asked for a cup of hot coffee [not a hot cup]. 

2. We saw a corny of beautiful birds [not a beautiful 

covey]. 

3. They brought a barrel of fine apples [not a fine barrel]. 

2. Adjectives usually precede the nouns they modify. 

4. A smooth, green lawn pleases the eye. 

5. The bald eagle is a rapacious bird. 

6. A well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent 

one. — Carlyle. 

3. Adjectives may follow nouns for the sake of em- 
phasis or euphony. 

7. They were crowned with garlands gay. 
S. Tbis is the truth, pure and simple. 

9. A form more fair, a face more sweet, 

Ne'er hath it been my lot to meet. — Whittier. 

%.. Adjectives, when limited, may follow nouns. 

10. He is a man worthy of honor. 

11. They are men wise in their own conceit. 

5. In a series of adjectives of unequal rank, the one 
most closely limiting the noun should appear next to il 
— a qualifying nearer than, a limiting adjective. 

12. Life is a sad, slow, hand-to-hand struggle with self. 

13. The city erected two expensive marble statues. 



208 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Obs. I. — The article adjective is omitted — 

1. Before abstract nouns and those denoting substance. 

1. Patience is a Christian virtue. 

2. Gold abounds in Alaska. 

2. Before the names of the arts and sciences. 

3. Arithmetic is the science of numbers. 

4- Etymology treats of the classification and derivation 
of words. 

5. Sculpture and painting are fine arts. 

3. Before nouns used in a general unlimited sense. 

6. The spread of cholera is alarming. 

7. What kind of element is an adjective? 

8. The lizard is a kind of reptile. 

9. He gave some sort of excuse. 

4. Before nouns denoting mere titles. 

10. Ye call me Master and Lord. 

11. He is entitled to the name of statesman. 

Obs. II. — The article adjective is inserted — 

1. Before common nouns naming objects definitely referred to. 

1. The ox is herbivorous ; the lion, carnivorous. 

2. Before proper nouns, when referring to individuals as a class. 

2. He is called the Webster of the Senate. 

3. What can you say of the two Catos and the twelve 

Csesars ? 

3. Before adjectives used as nouns. 

4. None but the brave deserves the fair. — Dryden. 

5. Tlie vile are only vain, the great are proud. — Byron. 



THE SENTENCE— ORDER. 209 

Obs. III. — The article adjective is repeated — 

1. Before each noun of a coordinate combination, when the 
objects they represent are specially distinguished. 

1. We did not refer to the quantity, but the quality of 

the goods. 

2. Between the nose and the eyes a strange contest arose. 

2. Before each member of a compound adjective element, when 
the members limit objects individually different, though of the 
same name. 

3. Name the eastern and the western boundary of Illinois. 
4- We saw but three varieties of tree — the oak, the birch, 

and the beech. 



190. Since adverbs modify three different parts of 
speech, they may appear in almost any part of the sen- 
tence. They should be near the elements modified and 
are usually placed — 

1. After intransitive verbs. 

1. He speaks easily and forcibly. 

2. Some flowers never bloom early. 

3. They stumble that run fast. — Shakspere. 

2. Before transitive verbs, or after their objects. 

4- He rarely lost .a good opportunity. 

5. She obeys her teachers willingly. 

6. And we bitterly thought of the morrow. — Wolfe. 



3. Before adjectives and adverbs. 

7. The wind was extremely cold. 

8. The chorus sang quite well. 

9. A joke's a wry serious thing. 



210 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Jf. Between the parts of a verb-phrase. 

10. Our friends will soon arrive. 

11. The to of the infinitive is often omitted. 

12. New opinions are always suspected, and usually 

opposed. — Locke. 

5. For the sake of emphasis, either at the beginning 
of a sentence or at its close. 

13. Blithely the gay bells sound. 

14. Here was I born, here shall be my grave. — Garrison. 

15. In their prosperity my friends shall never hear of 

me; in their adversity, always. — Bolingbroke. 

Obs. — The insertion of an adverbial modifier between the sign 
(to) of the infinitive and the infinitive itself should be carefully 
avoided, unless the design is to modify the latter as closely as 
possible. Notice the positions of the modifiers in the following, 
and justify the last two : 

1. He intends never to return. 

2. We ought carefully to avoid all errors. 

3. He ought to apologize at least. 

4. I wish to thoroughly understand all his motives. 

5. Before he can decide he has many things to carefully 

consider. 



CAUTIONS. 

1. For the sake of clearness, place only, merely, 
chiefly, scarcely, even, solely, and similar adverbs, immedi- 
ately before the words they are intended to modify. The 
effect of a change of position is seen in the following : 

1. Only I wrote the essay (no one else). 

2. I only wrote the essay (did not compose it). 

3. I wrote only the essay (wrote nothing else). 

4. Tbey're only truly great who are truly good. 

— Chapman. 



THE SENTENCE — ORDER. 211 

Obs.— In some sentences only may equally well follow the word 
it modifies. 

1. The President only can declare war. 

2. Only the President can declare war. 

3. For your sake only would I come. 

4. With that purpose only will he act. 

2. Place the correlatives not — but, not only — but, 
not — but only, not only — but also, etc., so that each 
member of the pair shall precede the same part of 
speech or the same kind of element. 

1. He desired not fame, but fortune. 

2. Success is the result, not of luck, but of work. 

3. He was accused not only of theft, but of murder. 

4. He strove not for fame, but only for fortune. 

5. She sang not only the ballad, but also the medley. 



Obs. — To place not only before sang in sentence 5 would 
necessitate a new predication to follow but also; as, 

She not only sang the ballad, but also played her own accom- 
paniment. 



191. To avoid ambiguity, all phrase and clause 
modifiers should be placed as near as possible to the 
words they are intended to modify. 

1. A cargo of great value was placed in the ship [not A 

cargo was placed in the ship of great value]. 

2. The lady with a Roman nose was sewing [not The 

lady was sewing with a Roman nose]. 

3. The thief, afraid of the consequences of his crime, fled from 

the city [not The thief fled from the city, etc.]. 
4- Claudius, wJlo scarcely deserved the name of man, was 
canonized among the gods [not Claudius was 
canonized among the gods, who scarcely de- 
served, etc.]. 



212 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Exercise. 

(a) Analyze the examples given under the several 
rules for order. 

(b) Construct sentences illustrating the natural order 
of elements ; change them to the interrogative, impera- 
tive, and exclamatory forms. 

(c) Construct sentences introduced by the expletives 
there and here; others, introduced by an attribute of a 
copulative verb ; others, in which the objects properly 
precede the verbs they limit. 

(d) Construct sentences in which adjectives precede 
the nouns they limit ; others, in which they properly 
follow the words they limit. 

(e) Construct sentences illustrating the use of adverbs 
before and after the verbs they limit ; others, with adverbs 
properly placed between the parts of a verb-phrase ; 
others, illustrating the correct use of only, merely, even, 
at least, etc. 

(/) Construct sentences illustrating the proper use 
of the correlatives mentioned in Caution 2. 

(g) Eewrite the following sentences, correcting the 
errors in arrangement : 

1. Many died in the hospitals of fever. 

2. The young gentleman played the violin with red hair. 

3. The cow jumped over the moon in Mother Goose. 

4- I saw a meteor pass athwart the sky, standing in the 

doorway. 
5. He discovered what a poor financier he was on the next day. 



THE SENTENCE— ELLIPSIS. 213 

6. The witness was ordered to withdraw, in consequence of 

being intoxicated, by the court. 

7. A ship attracted our attention, which was gliding along 

the horizon. 

8. The first astronomical observatory was erected at Seville 

by the Saracens in Europe. 

9. Here we saw two men digging a well with straw hats. 

10. Found, a gold watch by a gentleman, with steel hands. 

11. The fruit comes by express which we eat. 



ELLIPSIS. 

192. Ellipsis is a figure of syntax produced by the 
omission from a sentence of one or more words easily 
understood. Ellipsis is permissible only when the omis- 
sion does not obscure the sense, or when the mind of 
the reader or hearer readily supplies the omitted word. 

Ellipses are produced by omitting — 

1. The subject of an imperative sentence. 

1. Awake (ye). Come (thou). Do (thou) come 

2. Hear (ye) the mellow wedding bells. 

2. A verb or verbal. 

3. Where now (are) her glittering towers? 

J h Whose (is) this image and superscription? 

5. (Being) A professed Catholic, he imprisoned the Pope. 

6. She will go where she pleases (to go). 

3. Both subject and predicate in exclamatory expres- 
sions. 

7. (It is) Strange ! (Go ye) To your oars, men ! 

8. (March ye) Forward ! 



214 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

4- A preposition. 

9. Woe is (to) me ! The sailors embarked this morning. 

10. Build (for) me seven altars. 

5. A connective from an objective clanse. 

11. You said (that) we should be well paid. 

12. My heart whispers (that) God is nigh. 

6. A relative governed by a preposition. 

13. Was that the object (for which) he sought? 
14- That was the day (on which) I paid the bill. 

7. The subject and copula in adverbial clauses of 
time or condition. 

15. Come when (it is) agreeable to you. 

16. Go as soon as (it is) possible. 

17. Think of me while (you are) far away. 

8. A clause between the parts of the conjunctive 
phrase, as if. 

18. He- acted as (he would act) if he owned the city. 

19. She speaks as (she would speak) if she were sincere. 

Exercise. 

(a) Analyze the foregoing sentences illustrating 
ellipsis. 

(b) Analyze the following sentences and describe the 
ellipsis in each : 

1. Many find happiness in action, few in ease. 

2. Then I enjoyed Byron most ; now Tennyson. 

3. He seems as happy as if he were a king. 
l t . Our minds arc as different as our faces. 

5. It is better to Buffer wrong than to do wrong. 



THE SENTENCE— IDIOMS. 215 

6. I'll hence to London. 

7. England's friend, Ireland's foe. 

8. They were very busy while here. 

9. Who drew this cartoon? I. 

10. The lion is as cunning as fierce. 

11. That done, he will start at once. 



IDIOMS. 

193. Every language contains phrases peculiar to 
that language, which, though not in accord with gram- 
matical law, are warranted by general usage. Such 
expressions do not admit of the ordinary grammatical 
analysis, and are styled idioms. 

Numerous idioms occur in good English. The form, 
value, and function of some of them will be seen in the 
following : 

1. The adverb there becomes a mere expletive when 
the verb be predicates existence only. In such cases it 
introduces the sentence and indicates merely this pecu- 
liarity of the verb. 

1. There were giants in those days. 

2. There are four fives in twenty. 

3. Breathes there the man with soul so dead ! — Scott. 

4. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio. 
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 

— Shakspere. 

2. Verbs of motion, rest, sense, or condition, express- 
ing mere existence, are copulative, and take adjectives 
or participles as their attributes. 

5. I shall (jo mad if this continues. 

6. The house stands adjourned. 

7. They all stood amazed. 

8. With him lay dead both hope and pride. 



216 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. The verb be is sometimes substituted for the 
auxiliary have. 

0. We are grown wiser now. 

10. The time is come to speak out. 

11. The heathen are perished out of the land. — Bible. 

Jf. Had is sometimes substituted for would or 
would do. 

12. You had better go before dark. 

13. She had best go to-day. 

14. I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. 

— Shakspere. 

5. Have (has or had), followed by au infinitive, is 
often used to express constraint, compulsion, necessity, 
or obligation to do some act. 

15. I have to do a great deal. 

16. She had to read a stanza. 

17. He has to refuse the request. 

IS. We have to strive with heavy prejudice deeply rooted 
in the hearts of men. — Hooker. 

In such cases have = must and the combinations may 
be parsed as idiomatic verb-phrases of the potential mode. 

6. Going, the present participle of go, is often used 
with some form of be to express purpose or intent. 

19. I was going to send for you. 

20. He is going to ride across the meadow. 

21. I was going to say, the true art of being agreeable 

is to appear well pleased with those you are 
engaged with. — Steele. 

In such cases going may be regarded as transitive, 
and the infinitive following as its object. 



THE SENTENCE— IDIOMS. 217 

194. By idiomatic use, groups of words not sus- 
ceptible of analysis in the usual way are employed as 
units or single parts of speech in the sentence, with 
various functions. Such groups are called idiomatic 
phrases. In form they generally consist of — 

1. A verb combined with one or more prepositions, 
see to come to go by 

buy in come by go over with 

bring to do up lay up, etc. 

1. We shall buy in all the shares. 

2. Such a course will bring about disaster. 

3. He came by it honestly. 

These prepositions must be called adverbs if con- 
sidered alone. In most cases it is better to treat them 
as inseparable parts of the verbs. Sometimes they pre- 
cede the verb as a prefix — undergo, outdo. They are 
followed by the objective case, and thus they usually 
render an intransitive verb transitive. Accordingly they 
may have a passive form or an active. 

4. He was laughed at by all [was derided]. 

5. All laughed at him [derided him]. 

2. A preposition with an adjective or adverb, 
at last at large on high 

at once for once for evermore 

at all in vain at least 

G. I will speak to her at once. 

7. You sliall not toil in rain. 

8. They would not work at all. 

9. In the brave days of old. — Macaulay. 

10. And behold I am alive for evermore. — Bible. 

Such phrases, though prepositional in form, are really 
idiomatic. In office they are usually adverbial, though 
sometimes adjective. 



218 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



An adjective with an adverb. 

11. I told you so long ago. 

12. We have known that all along. 



J,.. A noun, preposition, and noun. 

end for end cheek by jowl hand to hand 

face to face hand to mouth year by year, etc. 

13. Turn the bar end for end. 

14. They met face to face. 

15. It was a hand to hand contest. 

In office, such expressions are adverbial, or rarely 
adjective. 

5. A verb combined with a noun, adjective, or an 
adverb. 

laid siege = besiege take after = resemble 

made bold = ventured wrapped up in = engrossed 

make light of = under-rate, -estimate, -value 



6. Two prepositions united coordinately. 

by and by over and over in and in 

out and out through and through in and out 

16. He was a Tory out and out. 

17. The story was read over and over. 
IS. I will see you by and by. 

In office, such expressions may be either adverbial or 
adjective. 



7. Two adverbs united coordinately. 

19. Ever and anon the story will be told. 

20. And now and then footsteps were heard. 



THE SENTENCE— RULES OF SYNTAX. 219 

8. A phrase — infinitive or prepositional. 

to be sure upon the whole for instance 

to say the least at all events in the main 

at any rate on the alert of course 

21. What a curiosity, to be sure! 

22. At all events, I shall hold you responsible. 

23. In the main, her singing was good. 

Such expressions are sometimes parenthetical ; some- 
times they limit the assertion as a modal adverb. 

9. An adjective, preposition, and adjective. 

24- Little by little, but surely and steadily, we are taught 
the meaning of life. — Anon. 



GENERAL RULES OF SYNTAX. 

195. 1. A noun or a pronoun used as the subject 
of a verb must be in the nominative case. 

2. A noun or a pronoun used as an attribute of a 
copulative verb must be in the nominative case. 

8. A noun or a pronoun used simply in address must 
be in the independent case. 

If.. A noun or a pronoun limited by a participle, and 
independent of other words in the sentence, must be in 
the nominative absolute case. 

5. A noun or a pronoun used to limit another noun 
by denoting possession, origin, or fitness, must be in the 
possessive case. 

6. A noun or a pronoun in apposition must agree in 
case with the noun which it explains. 



220 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

7. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in 
person, number, and gender. 

8. A noun or a pronoun used as the object of a 
transitive verb or a verbal must be in the objective case. 

9. A noun or a pronoun used as the object of a 
preposition must be in the objective case. 

10. An adjective limits a noun or a pronoun. 

11. An adjective used with a copulative verb to form 
the predicate limits the subject. 

12. An adverb limits a verb or verbal, an adjective, 
or an adverb. 

13. A verb must agree with its subject in person 
and number. 

14- A preposition connects a phrase and shows the 
relation of its object to the word which the phrase limits. 

15. A coordinate conjunction connects elements of 
equal rank. 

16. A subordinate conjunction connects elements of 
unequal rank. 

17. An interjection has no grammatical relation to 
other words in the sentence. 

18. A participle is used as a noun or an adjective. 

19. An infinitive is used as a noun, an adjective, or 
an adverb. 

20. The assumed subject of an infinitive must be in 
the objective case. 



THE SENTENCE— CAPITALIZATION. 221 



CAPITALIZATION. 

196. Letters are written either as capitals or small 
letters. 

The principal rules for the use of capital letters are 
as follows : Begin with a capital — 

1. The first word of every sentence. 

2. All proper nouns and most words derived there- 
from. 

3. The first ivord of every line of poetry. 

Jf. The first word of every direct quotation. 
Webster said, "I still live." 

5. Names of the Deity, and pronouns referri?ig to 
God, when used in address tvithout an antecedent. 

The Almighty. 

O Thou that hearest prayer. 

6. Common nouns vividly personified. 

Then Peace shall smile upon us, and Plenty abide 
among us. 

7. The first word of mcmbered terms. 

He discussed his theme under the following heads : 
(1) Its truth. (2) Its utility. (3) Its expediency. 

8. Names of months, days of the week, and holidays. 

Last Thanksgiving came on Thursday, November 24th. 



222 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

9. Names of events, eras, and noted written instru- 
ments. 

The Revolution. The Magna Charta. 

The Fourth of July. The Constitution of the U. S. 

10. Titles of honor and of respect when applied to 
particular persons. 

Hon. Charles Sumner. J. J. Jones, Esq. 

11. The name of a political parti/, or a religious sect, 
and titles of institutions. 

The Tories. The Methodists. 

The Democrats. The Protestants. 

The College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

12. Nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs in the titles 
of books and headings of chapters. 

"The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." 
"What a Blind Man Saw in Europe." 

13. The names of the points of compass when they 
denote a section of country. 

We moved from the North to the South. 

Obs. — The words I and O should always be capitals; and the 
letters I, V, X, L, C, D, and M, used as numerals, should usually 
be capitals. 

O John, how gladly I shall return ! 

Study lessons I, X, and C. 

PUNCTUATION. 

197. Punctuation is the system of dividing written 
language by symbols, to show the relation of words, 
phrases, and clauses, that their meaning may be readily 
understood. 



THE SENTENCE — PUNCTUATION. 223 

The symbols used are as follows: The period (.), inter- 
rogation point (?), exclamation point (!), colon (:), semi- 
colon (;), comma (,), marks of parentheses ( ), brackets 
[ ], dash ( — ), apostrophe ('), hyphen (-), quotation 
marks (" "). 

198. The period is used — 

1. To denote the conclusion of a declarative or an 
imperative sentence. 

1. Money is a good servant, but a bad master. 

2. Cherish the good and love the true. 

2. To denote an abbreviation. 

Gen. George Washington, Mt. Vernon, Va. 

Asa Gray, LL. D., Prof, of Botany, Harvard University. 

S. After titles of books or papers, and after headings 
and signatures. 

Aurora Leigh. David Swing. 

Poetry. The Art of Punctuation. 



199. The interrogation point is used — 

1. After interrogative sentences. 

1. Who can refute a sneer? 

2. Shall vain words have an end? 

2. After interrogative clauses or members. 

3. He inquired, "Can I assist you?" 

4. The hour has arrived; shall we start? 

8. After interrogative expressions within a sentence. 

5. Was it murder? or theft? or arson? or all three in one? 



224 ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

200. The exclamation point is used — 

1. After every exclamatory sentence. 

1. How can I endure it ! 

2. O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, 
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew ! 

2. After interjections and phrases expressive of great 
joy, grief, surprise, or other emotion. 

3. Behold ! here it is. 5. Oh ! it hurts. 

4. Oh, joy unutterable ! 6. O patience, divine ! 

3. Sometimes to express a doubt or a sneer. 

7. An honest lawyer! an anomaly in Nature. 

8. A discerning lover! that's a new creature. 

201. The colon is used — 

1. To separate the principal members of a compound 
sentence when either member contains a semicolon. 

1. You have called yourself an atom in the universe ; you 
have said you were but an insect in the solar blaze: is your present 
pride consistent with these professions? 

2. To set off a supplementary proposition when intro- 
duced without a connective. 

2. Love hath wings : beware lest he fly. 

3. Time is money: do not squander it. 

S. Before a formal enumeration of particulars, and 
a direct quotation referred to by the words thus, fol- 
lowing, as follows, this, these, etc. 

4. Man consists of three parts : First, the body with its sensual 
appetites ; second, the mind with its thirst for knowledge, and 
third, the soul with its undying principles. 

5. Webster wrote thus: " True eloquence does not consist in 
speech." 



THE SENTENCE— PUNCTUATION. 225 

202. The semicolon is used — 

1. To separate members of a compound sentence not 
closely related in thought. 

1. Mirth should be the embroidery of conversation, not the 
web ; and wit, the ornament of the mind, not the furniture. 

2. "Without dividing, he destroyed party; without corrupting, 
he made a venal age unanimous. 

3. To err is human ; to forgive, divine. 

2. To separate a series of phrases and clauses having 
a common grammatical use. 

4. To help the poor in their need ; to minister to the sick in 
their distress ; to visit the bereaved in their affliction — these are 
the common duties of man. 

5. We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died 
in vain, — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of 
freedom, — and that government of the people, by the people, for 
the people, shall not perish from the earth. — Lincoln. 

3. Before as, to-wit, viz., when they introduce an 
example or an enumeration of particulars. 

6. Nouns are inflected to denote gender ; as, Count, Countess ; 
Jew, Jewess. 

7. In the nineteenth century England has produced four great 
poets; viz., Byron, Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Browning. 



203. The comma is used — 

1. To separate short members of a compound sen- 
tence when the connection in thought is close. 

1. Educate men, and you keep them from crime. 

2. Man proposes, but God disposes. 

15 



226 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

2. To set off the names of persons addressed. 

3. I am to be Queen of the May, mother. 

4. It touches you, my lord, as much as me. 

3. To set off direct quotations when short and 
informal. 

5. Franklin said, "One to-day is worth two to-morrows." 

6. Clay said, "I would rather be right than be president." 

4- To separate words, phrases, or clauses in the same 
construction, forming a series. 

7. Empires rise, flourish, and decay. 

8. He had a good mind, a sound judgment, and a vivid 

imagination. 



5. To set off adjective phrases and clauses which are 
non-restrictive. 

9. All eyes were now on Philip, who had not spoken. 
10. There, too, was the Montana statue, cast in silver. 



6. To set off adverbial clauses when used at the 
beginning of a sentence, or when interrupting its 
smoothness. 

11. Because the storm increased, he hurried home. 

12. Where all is mercenary, nothing can be magnanimous. 

13. The cannoneers, when the musketry had ceased, 

returned to their guns. 

7. To set off independent, inverted, or parenthetical 
elements. 

14- To be brief, this is our opportunity. 

15. Milton was, like Dante, a statesman and a lover. 



THE SENTENCE— PUNCTUATION. 227 

8. To separate words joined in pairs. 

16. We should be devout and humble, cheerful and serene. 

17. Hope and despondency, joy and sorrow, pleasure and 

pain, diversify life with their sudden contrasts. 

9. To separate elements contrasted in meaning. 

IS. He is shrewd, yet noble. 

19. Industry, as well as genius, is essential to success. 

10. To denote ellipses. 

20. Peace brings prosperity; war, desolation. 

21. Our Presidents reside at the White House, Washing- 

ton, D. C. 

11. To set off the subject when it is a clause, or is 
long and complicated. 

22. Whatever breathes, lives. 

23. He who pursues pleasure only, defeats the object of 

his creation. 

12. To set off appositional elements consisting of 
more than one word. 

24. We, your representatives, shall demand justice. 

25. Milton, the blind poet, is ranked below the poet Homer. 

26. My friend John is of age ; his sister Ann is sixteen. 

13. To set off adverbs and adverbial phrases like 
the following when they interrupt the easy flow of the 
sentence : 

again however first verily in short 

also namely secondly indeed no doubt 

besides moreover thirdly, etc. thus in like manner 

27. As an orator, moreover, he has no superior. 

28. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. 

29. Aspiration, no doubt, prompts our noblest action. 
SO. They were all, in like manner, acquitted. 



228 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

204. The apostrophe is used — 

1. To form the possessive of nouns. 

1. The boy's knife. Gentlemen's shoes. 

2. The evening's hush. Ladies' gloves. 

2. To form the plurals of letters, figures, characters, 
and words used merely as words. 

3. Repeat your l's, your 2's, and your x's. 

4. Your if s, so's, and and's are too numerous. 

3. To mark the elision of one or more letters. 

5. We've met him. 7. You'd be surprised. 

6. Aren't you ready? 8. Pity 'tis, 'tis true. 

205. Marks of parentheses are used to enclose 
expressions inserted in a sentence but not strictly belong- 
ing to it. 

1. Know then this truth (enough for man to know), — 
"Virtue alone is happiness below." — Pope. 

2. Mathematics (see Davies' Bourdon) is the science of 

quantity. 

206. Brackets are used to enclose words employed 
to make an explanation, correct a mistake, or supply an 
omission. 

1. They [the Indians] are fast disappearing. 

2. I wish you could think like [as] I think. 

207. The dash is used — 

1. To mark a sudden change in construction or 
sentiment. 

1. Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage — what are they? 

2. He had no motive in his mind — 

No ruffles on his shirt. 



THE SENTENCE— PUNCTUATION. 229 

2. Sometimes to set off appositional elements. 

3. Only great in that strange spell — a name. 

4. One feeling pervades the hearts of all alike — the love 

of life. 

3. To set off digressions which contain matter neces- 
sary to the whole sentence. 

5. Then it occurred to him — for his own interest did not 

escape him, even in this mode of considering the 
suhject — that he was in the power of the Lees. 
— Scott. 

b. To prolong the pause after a semicolon or colon. 

6. Dear sir: — 

7. The Board passed the following resolutions: — 



208. The hyphen is used — 

1. To join the parts of a compound word, 
mother-in-law twenty-four faint-hearted 

2. Between syllables, when a word is divided at the 
end of a line. 

1. Our deeds determine us, as much as we deter- 

mine our deeds. 

2. Talk dies on the empty air. Deeds are facts for- 

ever and ever. 

209. Quotation marks are used — 

1. To enclose direct quotations. 

1. Charles Sumner said, " Equality of rights is the first of 

rights." 

2. "The secret of success," says Disraeli. " is constancy to 

purpose." 



230 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Obs. — A quotation within a quotation is enclosed by single 
quotation marks. 

"War, war, is still the cry — 'war even to the knife !'" 

2. To enclose the names of books, poems, pictures, 
etc., especially when doubt would exist as to the exact 

title. 

3. Who was the author of "Ecce Homo"? 

J h "In Memoriam " was written by Tennyson. 

5. "The Last Mourner" was painted by Landseer. 

Exercise. 

(a) Punctuate the following fable, and account for 
the capitalization: 

THE LION AND THE FOX. 

A Lion that had grown old and had no more strength to forage 
for food saw that he must get it by cunning he went into his den 
and crept into a corner and made believe that he was veiy sick 

All the animals came in to take a look at him and as they 
came he snapped them up now when a good many beasts had 
been caught in this way the Fox who guessed the trick came 
along he took his stand a little way from the den and asked the 
Lion how he did 

The Lion said he was very sick and begged him to come into 
the den and see him 

So I would said the Fox but I notice that all the footprints 
point into the den and there are none that point out 

(b) Capitalize and punctuate the following extracts : 



I repeat the statement that ideals are the worlds masters they 
order our life they dictate the form of our history they are the 
very essence of poetry and the staple of all worthy fiction our 



THE SENTENCE— PUNCTUATION. 231 

affections choose an object and straightway our imaginations light 
it into apotheosis we garner in it that which is best in our thought 
and it becomes a power upon us for the elevation of our life. 

— Holland. 

duty. 

A sense of duty pursues us ever it is omnipresent like the deity 
if we take to ourselves the wings of the morning and dwell in the 
uttermost parts of the sea duty performed or duty violated is still 
with us for our happiness or our misery if we say the darkness 
shall cover us in the darkness as in the light our obligations are 
yet with us.— Webster. 

TRANSLATIONS. 

I rarely read any latin greek german italian sometimes not a 
french book in the original which i can procure in a good version 
i like to be beholden to the great metropolitan english speech the 
sea which receives tributaries from every region under heaven i 
should as soon think of swimming across charles river when i wish 
to go to boston as of reading all my books in originals when i 
have them rendered for me in my mother tongue. — Emerson. 



JULY a, 1776. 

Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was 
debated in america and a greater perhaps never was nor will be 
decided among men a resolution was passed without one dissent- 
ing colony that those united colonies are and of right ought to 
be free and independent states 



The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch 
in the history of america i am apt to believe that it will be cele- 
brated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival 
it ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn 
acts of devotion to god almighty it ought to be solemnized with 
pomp and parade with shows games sports guns bells bonfires and 
illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from 
this time forward for evermore. — Joun Adams. 



232 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



FIGURES OF RHETORIC. 

210. A figure of rhetoric is an intentional devia- 
tion from the ordinary or literal application of words. 
It is a mode of expressing ideas by words that suggest 
pictures or images from the physical world. 

The principal figures are simile, metaphor, metonymy, 
synecdoche, hyperbole, personification, interrogation, an- 
tithesis, and climax. 

211. Simile is a direct comparison between objects 
of different classes. It is generally indicated by like, so, 
as, just so, etc. 

1. Like as the waves make toward the pebbled shore 
So do our minutes hasten to their end. — Shak&PEKE. 

2. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. 

— Bible. 

3. The lovely moon climbs up the sky 

As one who walks in dreams.— Longfellow. 



212. Metaphor states the resemblance of two objects 
by directly applying — 

1. The name of one object to the other. 

1. Life is a tedious twice-told tale. 

2. The metaphor is the gem of figures. 

3. Spare moments are the gold-dust of time. 

2. The act of one to the other. 
4- The ship ploughs the main. 

5. Our acts our angels are, or good or ill, 

Our fatal shadows that walk by us still. — Fletcher. 

C. My winged boat, a bird afloat 

Sicims round the purple peaks remote. — Read. 



FIGURES OF RHETORIC. 233 



3. An attribute of one to the other. 

7. His face is sunny; his eyes, sparkling. 

8. Her words are tender; her actions, mild. 



Obs. — A continued metaphor, or a chain of cognate metaphors, 
is called allegory. The closing stanza of Longfellow's ' ' The Build- 
ing of the Ship " is a good example of short allegory. Addison's 
"The Vision of Mirza" and Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" 
are examples of extended allegory. 



213. Personification is a species of metaphor 
which assigns either personality or an attribute of life 
to an inanimate object or to an abstract idea. 

1. And gentle Dullness ever loves a joke. — Pope. 

2. The morning stars sang together. 

3. The floods shall clap their hands. 
If,. Where grateful Science still adores 

Her Henry's holy shade. — Gkay. 



214. Synecdoche 

1. A part is put for the whole. 

1. My roof shall protect you. 

2. We welcome you to our fireside. 

3. Then came a fleet of twenty masts. 

2. The whole is put for a part. 

4. The world knows his virtues. 

5. Our hero was gray, but not from age. 

S. A definite number for an indefinite. 

6. A thousand hearts beat happily. — Btkon. 

7. Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain.— Bvkon. 



234 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

215. Metonymy is the exchange of names between 
things known to be closely related. It is founded not 
on resemblance, but on relation — 

1. Of cause and effect. 

1. Can gray hairs make folly venerable? 

2. They have Moses and the proplvets. — Bible. 

2. Of the sign to the thing signified. 

3. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah. 

4. The stars and stripes float over the ship. 

5. The pen is mightier than the sword. — Bulwer Lytton. 

3. Of place and inhabitant. 

6. What land would allow such lynchings? 

7. What State can boast of better schools? 

4. Of the material for the thing. 

S. High flashed his bright steel. 

9. The castles were decorated with canvas and marble. 

10. In the Cross of Christ I glory. 

5. Of container and thing contained. 

11. The house is corrupt. 

12. Our ships next opened fire. 

13. The fire burns, the kettle boils. 



216. Hyperbole is an exaggerated form of state- 
ment used generally for emphasis or vividness of expres- 
sion. 

1. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than 

lions. — Bible. 

2. And fired the shot heard round the world. — Emerson. 

3. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little 

hand.— Shakspere. 



FIGURES OF RHETORIC. 235 

217. Antithesis is the placing of opposites in jux- 
taposition in order to heighten their effect by contrast. 

1. The prodigal robs his heir ; the miser robs himself. 

2. Though grave, yet trifling ; zealous, yet untrue. 

3. Immortal, though no more ; though fallen, great. 

218. Climax is a series of words, phrases, or clauses, 
each of whose members rises in impressiveness above the 
preceding. 

1. I came, I saw, I conquered. — (Lesar. 

2. Washington was first in war, first in peace, and first in 

the hearts of his countrymen. — R. H. Lee. 

3. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated, we have 

supplicated, we have prostrated ourselves before 
the throne. — Patrick Henry. 

219. Interrogation is the expression of strong 
affirmation under the form of a question or questions. 

1. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 

2. Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty 

pervert justice? 

3. Is not God what he was ? Does he not what he did ? 

Says he not what he said ? Loves he not whom 
he loved? 

220. The chief advantages of figures of rhetoric 
are as follows : 

1. They give clearness to abstract ideas by bringing 
before the mind two things simultaneously — a concrete 
image to illustrate the abstract thought. 

2. They intensify the expression of emotion by asso- 
ciating the subject of thought with visible objects, the 
character of which naturally excites emotion. 



236 ENGLISH GRAMMAR 



Exercise. 



(a) Study the foregoing definitions and explain the 
figures given in the examples. 

(b) Find, classify, and explain the figures in the fol- 
lowing sentences : 

1. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and bis voice as the sound 
of many waters. — Bible. 

2. Literature is the Thought of thinking Souls. — Carlyle. 

3. Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice. — Shakspere. 

4. I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest. 

— Shakspere. 

5. Give us this day our daily bread. — Bible. 

6. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep 
not thy law.— Bible. 

7. A Daniel come to judgment ! — Shakspere. 

S. The floods shall clap their hands. The mountains shall 
break forth into singing. — Bible. 

9. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times. 

— Shakspere. 

10. Reason saw not, till Faith sprung the light. — Dryden. 

11. Proverbs, like the sacred books of each nation, are the 
sanctuary of the intuitions. — Emerson. 

12. Why are you dejected ? Has the sun ceased to shine ? 
the rain to fall ? the waters to flow ? the flowers to bloom ? 
opportunities to come ? Is there no wealth to gain ? no honor to 
win ? 

13. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time. 

— Carlyle. 
14- Ignorance is a blank sheet, on which we may write, but 
error is a scribbled one, from which we must first erase.— COLTON. 

15. Our door shall receive you ; our fireside shall welcome you. 

16. A fine volley of words, gentlemen, and quickly shot off. 

— Shakspere. 



FIGURES OF RHETORIC. 237 

17. I fear thee, ancient Mariner ! 
I fear thy skinny hand ! 

And thou art long, and lank, and brown, 
As is the ribbed sea-sand. — Coleridge. 

18. 01 blame not the bard if he fly to the bowers, 

Where Pleasure lies carelessly smiling at Fame. — Moore. 

19. A ruddy drop of manly blood 

The surging sea outweighs. — Emerson. 

20. Ever let the Fancy roam, 
Pleasure never is at home. 

21. (Washington was) — the first, the last, the best, — 

The Cincinnatus of the West. — Byron. 



Paet IV. 



COMPOSITION 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 

221. A composition is a series of related thoughts 
expressed in sentences on any subject and of any length 
or form. 

Obs. — Theme is a term usually applied to compositions re- 
quired of pupils. 

222. According to form, all composition is classified 
as : 

1. Prose, in which the natural order and mode of 
exj)ression is employed without reference to rhythm or 
rhyme. 

2. Poetry, in which the natural order and mode of 
expression is influenced by rhythm, or by both rhythm 
and rhyme. 

223. According to subject-matter treated, the prin- 
cipal kinds of composition are : 

1. Descriptions, which delineate the characteristics 
of objects or of persons in such a manner as to produce 

238 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION 239 

in the mind of the reader a clear picture of the object 
described ; as, 

My garden. 

The snow image. 

A portrait of George Washington. 

2. Narratives, which give a connected account of 
events, incidents, or experiences, either real or imagi- 
nary; as, 

The battle of Flodden Field. 
The story of Robinson Crusoe. 
What the mouse saw. 

3. Expositions or essays, which explain theories 

and ideas ; as, 

The molecular theory. 

The principles of government. 

The Constitution of the United States. 

4. Arguments, which aim to establish the truth of 
propositions ; as, 

Free coinage of silver does not mean repudiation of debts. 
The prisoner is guilty of embezzlement. 
Mars is not inhabited. 

5. Pieces of persuasion, sermons, orations, etc., 
which are intended to move the feelings of hearers ; as, 

"Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you." 
The character of Washington. 
The need for true patriotism. 

All forms of composition — novels, dramas, histories, 
lectures, poems, letters, etc. — illustrate one or more of 
the five classes defined above. 



240 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



Descriptions. 



224. The design of description is to produce for the 
reader or hearer a clear picture of persons or things. 
The choice of words and sentences used in description 
should be governed, as in all writing, by their fitness 
for the special occasion. If the subject to be described 
is familiar, the words should be simple and the sentences 
short ; if the subject is unusual or solemn, a more ele- 
vated style may be employed. 

A good description should have a definite object or 
series of objects, which the writer may present as a 
picture to the mind of the reader ; this principle is called 
unity. The picture thus presented should be complete, 
lacking nothing that is essential to the object to be 
portrayed. The description should be as brief as is 
consistent with clearness, because the reader is easily 
confused by many details. Therefore, out of the mass 
of detail which the writer sees in his subject, he should 
make a selection of the striking and important features 
— such as come to his mind when he attempts to 
remember an object once seen. 

The simplest form of description is seen in the inven- 
tory, where the writer states all the details of an object. 
Such are the catalogues or lists of articles in a room or 
house, or a description of a person on a traveler's passport. 

For literary purposes, however, the writer selects only 
those facts about the object which are striking, impor- 
tant, easily remembered, and harmonious. 

These details should be arranged in a natural order, 
which will help the reader in making a picture of the 
scene for himself. The more important parts of an 
object are usually stated last. Thus Whittier describes 
the characteristic features of a winter scene : 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 241 

1. "The wind blew east; we heard the roar 

Of Ocean on his wintry shore 
And felt the strong pulse throbbing there 
Beat with low rhythm our inland air. 
****** 
Meanwhile we did our nightly chores, — 
Brought in the wood from out of doors, 
Littered the stalls, and from the mows 
Raked down the herd's-grass for the cows • 
Heard the horse whinnying for his corn ; 
And, sharply clashing horn on horn, 
Impatient down the stanchion rows 
The cattle shake their walnut bows; 
While, peering from his early perch 
Upon the scaffold's pole of birch, 
The cock his crested helmet bent 
And down his querulous challenge sent." 

2. And Tennyson, in like manner, describes an old 
country house : 

"With blackest moss the flower-plots 

Were thickly crusted, one and all : 
The rusted nails fell from the knots 

That held the pear to the gable- wall. 
The broken sheds look'd sad and strange 

Unlifted was the clinking latch , 

Weeded and worn the ancient thatch 
Upon the lonely moated grange." 

3. Or this prose description from Irving illustrates 
the point. 

"The animal he bestrode was a broken-down plough-horse that 
had outlived almost everything but his viciousness. He was gaunt 
and shagged, with an ewe neck and a head like a hammer; his 
rusty mane and tail were tangled and knotted with burrs ; one eye 
had lost its pupil, and was glaring and spectral, but the other had 
the gleam of a genuine devil in it." 

10 



242 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Jf. In order to make the picture clearer, sometimes 
the writer groups the details he has selected under one 
image. Thus Victor Hugo, in his famous description of 
the battle of Waterloo, uses the figure of the letter A to 
map out the position of the armies : 

"Those who would get a clear idea of the battle of Waterloo 
have only to lay down upon the ground in their mind a capital A. 
The left stroke of the A is the road from Nivelles ; the right stroke 
is the road from Genappe ; the cross of the A is the sunken road 
from Ohain to Braine l'Alleud. The top of the A is Mont Saint 
Jean ; Wellington is there. The left-hand lower point is Hougo- 
mont; Reille is there with Jerome Bonaparte. The right-hand lower 
point is La Belle Alliance ; Napoleon is there. A little below the 
point where the cross of the A meets and cuts the right stroke is 
La Haie Sainte. At the middle of this cross is the precise point 
where the final battle was spoken. There the lion is placed, the 
involuntary symbol of the supreme heroism of the Imperial Guard. 
The triangle contained at the top of the A, between the two strokes 
and the cross, is the plateau of Mont Saint Jean. The struggle 
for this plateau was the whole of the battle." 



225. From the above discussion and examples we 
may draw the following directions : 

1. Write your description from one point of view, 
which is made clear to the reader. Thus you may pre- 
serve unity and make it easy for the reader to follow 
you. Observe how Tennyson describes the house (in 
selection 2) from the outside and with the idea of its 
ruin prominent; while Whittier (in selection 1) describes 
the barn from the inside at the time of feeding. 

2. Select characteristic details or qualities only, such 
as distinguish your object from similar objects. Irving 
mentions only the broken-down qualities of the horse 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION 243 

3. Present the particulars according to some plan or 
order, preferably that which the eye of the observer 
would naturally follow. Hugo places the parts of his 
picture in the order suggested by the letter A. If you 
wish to describe a room, do not begin with the floor, 
then mention the objects in the room, and return to the 
walls, but describe first either the size and shape of the 
room, or the objects in it. Or if you are portraying a 
person, proceed from the physical characteristics — shape, 
features, dress, etc. — to the mental. Order in description 
is the most essential feature. 

4. Enliven your description by action when the nature 
of the subject permits. Let the description be an instan- 
taneous view of objects in motion; let your words be 
descriptive of motion and sound, as Irving has done in 
his description of Van Tassel's farmyard, where he speaks 
of the fretting, peevish cry of guinea fowls, the gallant 
strut of the crowing cocks, the gobbling turkeys, and the 
grunting porkers. 

5. Use comparisons, especially similes, when some 
resemblance suggests a familiar or impressive object 
which will give clearness and interest to your descrip- 
tion. Many of the masterpieces of description owe much 
of their clearness and force to appropriate comparisons. 
Note Irving's comparison of the head of the horse to a 
hammer, and his eye to that of a devil. In the follow- 
ing description of the Roman Campagna, Euskin uses 
vivid figures : 

The blue ridge of the Alban Mount lifts itself against a solemn 
space of green, clear, quiet sky. Watch-towers of dark clouds stand 
steadfastly along the promontories of the Apennines. From the plain 
to the mountains, the shattered aqueducts, pier beyond pier, melt 



244 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

into the darkness like sluvdowy and countless troops of funeral 
mourners passing from a nation's grave. 

List of Subjects for Descriptions. 

An Old Mill. The Prairie in Spring. 

The Village Church. My Tandem Bicycle. 

The Skating-Rink. The Postmaster. 

A City Street. The Carpenter. 

A Busy Shop. A Simple Dynamo. 

The Public Park. An Old Country-House. 

The Ball-Ground. What the Engine Saw on a 

A Sugar Camp. Morning Run. 

Narratives. 

226. The design of the narrative is to relate, in 
natural order, events, incidents, or experiences. It may 
include description, as every story must contain some 
objects which require portrayal in order to gain the interest 
of the reader. The facts related in a narrative may be 
either real or imagined. In the former case they may be 
drawn either from personal experience as in an anecdote, 
or from some other source, as in history. 

The style used in narrative should be, so far as possible, 
simple ; short words and brief sentences give rapidity. 
Ornamentation is usually out of place. 



227. The following suggestions will be found helpful 
in composing narratives : 

1. In simple narrative, events should be related in the 
order of their happening. Thus the interest and the 
knowledge of the reader increase, and no break occurs 
in the chain. Generally this order is the same as that 
of cause and effect. The cause should be told first. 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION 245 

2. A narrative should have a definite object. The 
reader should be able to see that the events are leading 
to some final conclusion. When the objective point is 
reached, the narrative should close. 

3. A narrative should have unity; that is, digressions 
should not be introduced to distract the reader. Less 
important events should be subordinated to principal 
events. 

J/.. A narrative should have climax; that is, the 
interest in the events, incidents, or experiences related 
should grow as the story advances, and the most inter- 
esting part should be the end. 

228. "Every narrative has four elements: (a) The 
plot — that is, what happened; (b) the character — that is, 
the person to whom it happened ; (c) the situation — that 
is, the place where and the time when it happened ; 
(d) the purpose or the author's reason why it happened. 
Corresponding to these four elements are four test ques- 
tions, which we shall do well to ask ourselves in regard to 
every narrative we write or read : (a) What ? (b) Who ? 
(c) Where and when? (d) Why?" — Fletcher and 
Carpenter — " Theme Writing " 



229. Narratives include anecdotes, which are accounts 
of small incidents or experiences ; biographies, which are 
accounts of lives of noted people; voyages and travels, 
which are accounts of adventures and journeys; histories, 
which are systematic, written accounts of people and 
public events, and fiction, which gives imaginary accounts 
of people and events. 



246 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

List op Subjects for Narratives. 

My First Bicycle Ride. A Cat's Dinner Party. 

A Day in the Woods. Journey of a Drop of Water. 

How We Camped Out. Our Trip to the Great Fair. 

The Fourth of July. My Dream. 

Thanksgiving Day. A Leaf's Complaint. 

A Visit to the Museum. The Escape of a Prisoner. 

How I Spent Saturday. An Adventure with a Bear. 

Tommy's Accident. A Journey Down Town. 

The Battle of Bunker Hill. A Great Tournament. 

The Story of the Boa-constrictor. The March of an Army. 



Expositions — The Essay. 

230. An exposition explains an idea, or series of 
ideas, sometimes called a theory. The usual form of the 
exposition is the essay. An exposition differs from a 
description in that the latter represents objects, while 
the former presents thoughts or ideas. We may describe 
the form of a book; the contents of the book we explain. 

The chief quality of a good essay is clearness. As the 
purpose of the writer is to convey information, his style 
should be as simple as the subject permits, and the 
thoughts should be carefully connected. Illustrations 
and examples assist the reader, and should be used 
frequently. The order that the writer chooses is 
important: he should proceed, as in narrative, from 
what is known to what is unknown. Two examples of 
the exposition, or essay, are given : 

CHEERFULNESS. 

I have always preferred cheerfulness to mirth. The latter I 
consider as an act. the former as a habit of mind. Mirth is short 
and transient, cheerfulness fixed and permanent. Those are often 
raised into the greatest transports of mirth who are subject to the 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 247 

greatest depressions of melancholy. On the contrary, cheerfulness, 
though it does not give the mind such an exquisite gladness, pre- 
vents us from falling into any depths of sorrow. Mirth is like a 
flash of lightning that breaks through a gloom of clouds and 
glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight 
in the mind and fills it with a perpetual serenity.— Addison. 

THE STEAM ENGINE. 

The name steam engine, to most persons, brings the idea of 
a machine of the most complex nature, and hence to be under- 
stood only by those who will devote much time to the study of 
it; but he that can understand a common pump may understand 
a steam engine. It is, in fact, only a pump, in which the fluid 
passing through it is made to impel the piston instead of being 
impelled by it ; that is to say, in which the fluid acts as the power, 
instead of being the resistance. — Arnott. 

List of Subjects for Essays. 

The Character of a Good Man. The Working of a Cable Road. 

The Study I Like Best. Why the Engine Goes. 

An Electric Motor. Our State Government. 

What I Know About the Oak. The Mayor's Duties. 

Some Interesting Specimens A School Gymnasium, 

of Butterflies. The Modern Bicycle. 

Note that many of these subjects can be treated as 
descriptions. What difference in method would be neces- 
sary if the subjects were treated descriptively ? 



Arguments. 

231. An argument attempts to convince a reader or 
hearer of the truth or falsity of a proposition. Argu- 
ment may take many forms, such as a discussion between 
friends, a debate before a society or in a legislature, a 
case before a judge and jury, an article or book written to 
establish some truth. In an arirunient there should be — 



248 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

1. A definite proposition for the subject. We can 
not argue about one word, or a phrase, as asphalt pave- 
ment or is more serviceable. But when we say, "Asphalt 
pavement is more serviceable than any other kind of 
pavement," we have a full proposition with two sides, 
about which we may properly argue. 

2. The terms or elements of the proposition should 
be clearly defined. In the proposition given above, we 
must know what is meant by the phrases "asphalt pave- 
ment" and "more serviceable." 

3. The topic selected for argument should be debat- 
able; that is, one about which two opposed opinions may 
be reasonably held. Therefore, the more definitely the 
proposition is framed, the easier it will be to make a 
good argument. 

232. An argument contains three principal parts: 

1. The introduction, in which the writer explains 
the proposition, and states how he proposes to consider 
it. This part should also arouse the interest and gain 
the attention of the reader or hearer. Thus the intro- 
duction may contain description, narration, and per- 
suasion (which is an appeal to the feelings). 

2. The argument proper, or proof, in which the 
question at issue is treated directly. Here are placed the 
reasons (usually called proof) which the writer wishes 
to advance in favor of his opinion. These should be 
arranged carefully in order of climax. Here, also, are 
placed the counter-arguments or refutations of the argu- 
ments by the other side. 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 249 

3. The conclusion (sometimes called peroration), 
in which the arguments used are summed up, the result 
pointed out, and an appeal made to the feelings of the 
audience. This part should be made the most forcible, 
in order to leave a convincing impression. 

Obs. — Proof may consist of (a) a statement of facts supported 
by authority; (b) testimony of witnesses, living or dead; (c) logical 
reasons for belief. 

233. The qualities of a good argument are clearness, 
force, and fairness. Every statement should be precise 
and carefully guarded, and there should be no doubt 
about the meaning of any term. Hence the style should 
be exact, clear, and not ornamented. 

List of Subjects for Argument. 

Manual Training Should Be Introduced Into all Schools. 
Cities Should Own Street Railways. 
All Children Should Be Compelled to Attend School. 
Electric Light Should Be Provided for Public Streets. 
Bicycle Roads Should Be Built by the State. 
Resolved: That America Be Reserved for Americans. 



Persuasion — Orations, Sermons, Addresses, etc. 

234. Many topics of an argumentative nature do 
not admit a closely logical treatment. The effort of the 
writer or speaker, in such cases, is chiefly to move his 
audience by earnest appeal to their feelings, and thus 
influence them to take some action, or, perhaps, merely 
to agree with him in opinion and feeling. Such com- 
positions are the sermon, the public address, or oration. 
A single term is adequate for a subject; as, The Char- 
acter of George Washington, The Great Emancipator, 
Duty, etc. 



250 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Although little proof or formal argument is intro- 
duced, the oration may be divided into three parts : 

1. The introduction, the purpose of which is to 
win the attention of the audience. A reference to the 
occasion of the address may be made. Frequently a 
bright story or a pertinent anecdote serves to make a 
pleasant introduction. 

2. The discussion, in which the topic is treated 
according to the plan chosen by the author. Climax 
should be carefully preserved, and transitions from one 
division to another clearly shown. 

S. The conclusion. Here the true orator, after 
summing up his discussion, moves his audience to 
sympathy by exhortation, imagery, and appeals to imagi- 
nation and feeling. The conclusion must exceed in 
power the two other parts. 

235. As orations and compositions of a similar 
character are designed primarily to affect the emotions, 
greater latitude is allowed the author in his style than 
in any other form of prose. It is not enough that he 
be clear and interesting ; he must be forcible, enthusi- 
astic, and dramatic. Hence the orator may employ 
highly figurative diction; his sentences may be impera- 
tive and exclamatory. 

List of Subjects for Orations. 

Compulsory Education. Manual Training — Its Uses. 

Uses of Great Men. Uses of History. 

The Growth of Our Country. Protect the Birds. 

An Oppressed People. Kindness. 

Arbitration. The Dignity of Labor. 

Our Old Veterans. The Father of Our Country. 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 251 



Letters. 



236. All kinds of composition have been briefly 
described heretofore. Every piece of writing may be 
referred to one or more of these divisions. For the sake 
of further illustration, however, additional treatment is 
now given to a common form of composition — letters. 

237. A letter is a written or printed communica- 
tion from one person to another. It is designed to take 
the place of a conversation, and this purpose should 
govern its character, form, length, and style. 

According to the purpose they serve, letters are classi- 
fied and defined as follows : 

1. Letters of friendship, which are familiar com- 
munications between friends. In character they should 
reflect the relations of the correspondents. They should 
be simple, natural, and individual. Being conversations 
on paper, they should treat subjects of mutual interest. 
The same care should be taken as in speech ; the writer 
should not presume upon his correspondent by slovenli- 
ness, haste, or selfishness. 

2. Letters of business. Business letters should be 
written on one side of the paper only; and when written 
on business of one's own, they should contain a stamp 
for return postage. In style they should be concise, 
explicit, and courteous. The information desired or 
given should be stated as briefly as is consistent with 
clearness and courtesy; hence matters irrelevant to the 
business at hand should be excluded. Abruptness may 
be avoided by a careful introduction and conclusion. 
If the letter is an answer to one received, reference to 



252 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

the letter in question should be made, its date given, 
and inclosures, if any, acknowledged. Abbreviations 
should be used sparingly. An illiterate business letter, 
in which words are misspelled, grammar is violated, or 
other blunders are made, often creates prejudice against 
the writer. 

3. Letteks of introduction — those in which the 
writer commends a friend to a third person of his 
acquaintance. Since the writer to a certain extent 
becomes responsible for the character of the person 
introduced, care should be used in writing such letters 
not to exaggerate the merits of the bearer, nor to recom- 
mend in too high terms a person but partially known. 
Letters of introduction should not be sealed, if sent by 
the person introduced. 

4. Formal letters. These include official letters 
written by men in a public capacity about public affairs, 
petitions, and impersonal letters on weighty matters. In 
style, such letters should be dignified, clear, and brief. 
They contain frequent expressions of courtesy and 
respect, and the introduction and conclusion are formal. 
When writing in a strictly official capacity, the title of 
the writer should follow his signature. 



5. Notes of ceremony — invitations and regrets. 
These are of two kinds, informal and formal. 

(a) Informal invitations are friendly notes written 
in the first person, varied to suit the occasion. They 
should be brief and cordial, and confined to the subject 
of the invitation. 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 253 

Obs.— In addressing notes to ladies, the eldest or an only- 
daughter is entitled Miss, without her Christian name, while the 
younger daughters are entitled Miss with the Christian name 
added. When all of them are referred to, the title is usually 
pluralized, and not the surname. 

Miss Randall (eldest). 

Miss Amy Randall (younger). 

The Misses Randall (all). 

(b) Formal notes, whether invitations, acceptances, 
or regrets, should be written in the third person. While 
formal invitations are usually printed, a few examples 
are given to illustrate the correct forms to use in reply 
to different kinds of notes. 



INVITATIONS. 

Mr. and Mrs. George L. Robinson 

request the pleasure of Miss Jane Smith's company 

on Wednesday evening, June the first, 

from eight to eleven o'clock. 

404 Dearborn Avenue, 

May twenty-fifth. 

Mrs. George L. Robinson, 

At Home 

on Tuesday evening, June the seventh, 

from eight to eleven o'clock. 

404 Dearborn Avenue, 

June first. 

Mrs. George L. Robinson 

requests the pleasure of your company 

at dinner 

Thursday, March the twentieth, at seven o'clock. 

404 Dearborn Avenue, 

March tenth. 



254 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



ACCEPTANCES. 



Miss Jane Smith 

accepts with pleasure 

Mr. and Mrs. George L. Robinson's 

kind invitation for Wednesday evening, 

June the first. 



8 Astor Street, 

May twenty-seventh. 



Mr. Edward King accepts with pleasure 
Mrs. George L. Robinson's 
kind invitation for Tuesday evening, June the seventh. 
46 Oak Street, 
June third. 



REGRETS. 

Miss Jane Smith 

regrets that a previous engagement prevents 

her acceptance of 

Mr. and Mrs. George L. Robinson's 

invitation for Wednesday evening, 

June the first. 

8 Astor Street, 

May twenty-seventh. 



Mr. Edward King sincerely regrets 

that he shall be unable to accept 

Mrs. George L. Robinson's 

kind invitation to dinner, Thursday, March the twentieth, 

46 Oak Street, 

March eighteenth. 



Custom dictates, and politeness requires, that all invi- 
tations should be answered promptly. 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 255 

Exercise. 

(a) Write a letter to a friend on each of the fol- 
lowing subjects : 

Your trip to Niagara Falls. 

Your visit to the World's Fair. 

Planning a summer vacation with a friend. 

Asking for a book which you wish to borrow. 

Recounting the adventures of a week. 

(b) Write a business letter on each of the following 
subjects : 

Ordering a bill of groceries. 

A reply to the above. 

An answer to a business advertisement. 

An inquiry about a house for sale. 

Explaining an error made by a clerk. 

(c) Write letters of introduction as follows : 

Introducing your friend to another in a neighboring city. 
Introducing your friend to a school board. 
Recommending your friend as drug clerk. 

(d) Write formal letters as follows : 

A petition to a Congressman, requesting his offices in 

behalf of a measure. 
A petition to a school board. 
Declining or accepting a nomination for an office. 



238. Custom has established certain forms, which 
should be observed in writing letters. 

The parts of a letter are (1) the heading, (2) the 
introduction, (3) the body, (4) the subscription, and (5) 
the superscription. 



256 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

1. The heading states (a) the place and (b) the 
time of the writing. In business letters it should appear 
in the upper right-hand corner of the page. In letters 
between friends it may well appear at the close, and at 

the left side of the page. 

Lasalle, 111., 

January 2, 1898. 
or 
Lasalle, 111., 

January 2, 1898. 

2. The introduction consists of (a) the address 
and (b) the salutation. It should appear on the left 
side of the page, one line lower than the date. 

Mr. David Davis, 

Clinton, 

Iowa. 
My dear Sir: — 

In letters between friends the address is usually 
omitted from the introduction. 

My dear David: — or, Dear Mr. Davis, etc. 

In formal letters, which are not specifically commer- 
cial, the address may be placed at the close, on the left- 
hand side ; as, 
Gentlemen : — 



Very truly yours, 
Messrs. Brown, Smith & Co., 
Bankers. 
New York City. 



KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 257 

The salutation depends upon the degree of intimacy 
between the correspondents. Informal letters usually 
begin with the following salutations : 

Dear Brother: — Dear Smith: — 

Dear Jim:— My dear Smith: — 

Dear James: — Dear Mr. Smith: — 

My dear James: — My dear Mr. Smith: — 

More formal letters employ such as these: 

Dear Sir: — Dear Madam: — 

My dear Sir: — Gentlemen:— 

S. The body consists of the message. It should 
begin on the line below the salutation, and a space 
farther to the right. 

Dear Sir: — 

In reference to your communication in regard to, etc. 

Jj.. The subscription consists of the term of respect 
and the signature. It should appear at the close of the 
letter, and near the right side of the page. 

Yours truly, 

David Wells. 

The term of respect used depends on the writer's 
relations with the person addressed. In letters between 
frieuds the following are common : 

Sincerely yours, Cordially yours, 

Very sincerely yours, Devotedly yours, 

For letters more formal, such as the following are 

usual : 

Faithfully yours, Very truly yours, 

Respectfully yours, Truly yours, 

Obs. — The first letter only of the term of respect is capitalized. 

17 



258 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

When it is important to indicate the sex of the writer, 
the full Christian name should he written instead of the 
initials. Married women, when writing to a stranger, 
should prefix Mrs. to their name; as, (Mrs. H. W.) Mary 
M. Smith. 

5. The superscription consists of the name, title, 
and place of residence placed upon the envelope. To 
insure certain delivery it should be definite and plainly 
written. Notice the arrangement and punctuation of 
the following superscription : 



Mr. 

Box 181. 










Ln titer Wilson, 

Winona, 


Minn. 



SUGGESTIONS. 

Answer without delay all courteous letters. 

Use plain white or neatly tinted paper; decorated or 
highly colored paper is in poor taste. 

Date every letter, and sign your name in full. 

All letters should contain the writer's address in 
full. 

Leave a narrow margin on the left side of the page, 
and properly indent all paragraphs. 



COMPOSITION— POETRY. 259 

Do not write on the margin of your letter, nor write 
across a page already written. 

Do not use postal cards except for short business 
communications. 

Do not use figures except for dates or sums of money; 
nor the character &, except in the titles of business 
firms. 

Finish one subject before commencing another, and 
avoid, as far as possible, the use of a postscript. 

Avoid all hackneyed phrases, especially such as, "I 
take my pen in hand," "I sit down," "As I have nothing 
else to do I will now write," "I thought I would write 
you a letter," "I will now close." Some of these expres- 
sions are really impertinent ; others are useless, or even 
worse — senseless. 

Fold your letter neatly, using as few folds as possible. 
So fold that, in opening your letter, the recipient shall 
find it right side up, ready for perusal. 



POETRY. 

239. Poetry is the expression of beautiful and 
elevated thought and feeling in appropriate words, 
arranged in metrical form, with or without rhyme. 

"Poetry is simply the most beautiful, expressive, and 
widely effective mode of saying things." — Matthew 
Arnold. 

"The best and happiest thoughts of the best and 
happiest minds." — Shelley. 

"The art of employing words in such a manner as to 
produce an illusion on the imagination ; the art of doing 
by means of words what the painter does by means of 
colors." — Macaulay. 



260 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

240. Poetry may be classified as narrative, lyric, 
dramatic, and didactic. 

241. Narrative poetry recites, as a story, events 
historical, legendary, or purely imaginary. In this das- 
is included — 

1. The epic, which narrates at considerable length 
the adventures of heroes and illustrious persons, and 
even deities, as based on old legends or traditions. It 
includes descriptions of nature, as well as narratives of 
events. — (Adapted from Parsoxs.) 

Homer's "Iliad and Odyssey." 
Virgil's "iEneid." 
Dante's "Divine Comedy." 
Milton's "Paradise Lost." 

2. The metrical romaxce, a narrative poem of 
incident or adventure, less dignified than the epic. The 
passion of love, usually in the epic subordinated to 
other motives, is here often made the principal theme. 
Fairies, elves, witches, and ghosts often appear instead 
of gods and goddesses. 

Scott's "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" or 

"The Lady of the Lake." 
Tennyson's "Idylls of the King." 
Longfellow's ' ' Evangeline. " 

S. The metrical tale, distinguished from the 
preceding by its brevity, and by the greater scope of 
the subjects it may treat, including those of a humorous 
or realistic nature. 

Burns' "Tarn O'Shanter." 

Keats' "Eve of St. Agnes." 

Moore's "Fire-Worshipers." 

Tennyson's "Enoch Arden." 



COMPOSITION— POETRY. 261 

Jf. The pastoeal or idyl, a poem which depicts 
some phase of country life, usually a gay or pleasant 
phase, by means of narrative, song, or dialogue. 

Burns' "Cotter's Saturday Night." 
Virgil's "Eclogues." 

5. The ballad, a sentimental, narrative, or humor- 
ous poem, adapted for singing or recitation. It is simple 
in form, and usually appears in short stanzas. 

Crawford's "Kathleen Mavourneen." 
Wolfe's "Burial of Sir John Moore." 
"Sir Patrick Spens." 
Burns' ' ' Bannockburn. " 



242. Lyric poetry differs from epic or dramatic 
poetry in the fact that it usually expresses the individual 
emotions of the poet. It naturally takes a form fitted 
to be sung, but is found in a wide variety of metres. 
The name comes from lyre, an ancient stringed instru- 
ment. Some forms of lyric poetry are : 

1. The song, a poem intended to be sung. Songs 
may be patriotic, comic, convivial, sentimental, or reli- 
gious. In the last-mentioned case they are properly 
called hymns. 

Shakspere's "Who Is Sylvia?" 
Key's "The Star Spangled Banner." 
Burns' "Coming Thro' the Rye." 
Newman's "Lead Kindly Light." 

2. The ode, a lyric poem originally designed to be 
sung, dealing in reality with a wide variety of subjects, 



262 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

though restricted traditionally to the expression of ardent 
or exalted sentiment, such as that of religion or patri- 
otism. 

Lowell's ' ' Commemoration Ode. " 

Dryden's "Alexander's Feast." 

Keats' "Ode to the Nightingale." 

Wordsworth's "Intimations of Immortality." 

Shelley's. "To the Skylark." 

3. The elegy, a mournful or plaintive poem — a 
funeral song. 

Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard." 
Milton's "Lycidas." 
Shelley's "Adonais." 
Emerson's ' ' Threnody. " 

4-. The sonnet, a short poem, usually of fourteen 
lines, expressing a single sentiment. 

Mrs. Browning's "Sonnets from the Portuguese." 
Rossetti's "House of Life." 
Shakspere's "Sonnets." 
Sidney's "Astrophel and Stella." 
Petrarch's "Sonnets to Laura." 



243. Dramatic poetry, a form of poetry in which 
human action, instead of being narrated, as in epic 
j)oetry, is exhibited in the persons of those concerned. 
Written in dialogue, it vividly reproduces the original 
events, and represents the characters as if they were 
really present to the senses. Some forms are : 

1. Teagedt, which represents some important 
action performed by illustrious persons, generally with 
a fatal catastrophe. It seeks to arouse the emotions of 



COMPOSITION— POETRY. 263 

pity, scorn, and admiration — pity for the misfortunes 
of the actors ; scorn for the baseness in human character, 
and admiration for heroic acts. 

Shakspere's "Hamlet" or "Macbeth." 
Marlowe's "Jew of Malta." 
Webster's "Duchess of Malfi." 
Tennyson's "Becket." 

2. Comedy, which represents the lighter, more 
humorous, sides of life. The complications have a 
fortunate and happy outcome. Satire of foibles and 
caprices which are ludicrous is often one element of 
comedy. 

Shakspere's "Twelfth Night" or "Merchant of 
Venice." 

Sheridan's "School for Scandal." 

Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer." 

Ben Jonson's "Bartholomew Fair." 

A farce is a form of comedy which contains no 
serious elements, and in which the humor is broad and 
continuous. The melodrama is characterized by exag- 
gerated situations and feelings. It is neither pure 
tragedy nor comedy. 



244. Didactic poetry, or, more properly, didactic 
verse, is that variety which aims to instruct the mind, 
rather than to excite the emotions or stimulate the 
imagination. It deals with abstract ideas and theories ; 
a didactic poem is, indeed, merely an essay in verse. 

Pope's "Essay on Man." 
Dryden's "Religio Laici." 
Longfellow's "Psalm of Life," 



264 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



PBOSODY. 

245. Prosody is the grammar of verse, treating of 
the nature and laws of its structure. 



246. Verse differs from prose in having a regular 
succession of accented and unaccented syllables ; in prose 
the accents are irregularly distributed. 

Touch her not scorn fully, 

Think of her mourn fully.— Hood. 

247. Accent is the stress or force placed on par- 
ticular syllables in reading, as on the first and the fourth 
syllables of each line above. 

248. Rhythm is the succession of accent at regular 
intervals of duration. The unit of rhythm is called a 
foot, and consists of two syllables or of three. 

1. Build me | straight O | worthy | Master ! 

2. I am mon | arch of all | I survey. 



Obs. I. — Rhythm or measure is one of the basic principles of 
music. By virtue of its rhythmic form, verse is therefore allied 



Obs. II. — The rhythm of classic poetry, such as the Greek and 
the Latin, is based on the length of syllables ; that of English, upon 
accent. Thus, a Latin word with length of vowels like those in 
romance, in which the first is long and the second short, is a trochee, 
while in English it is an iambus, because the accent falls on the 
second syllable. 



PROSODY. 265 

249. The two-syllable feet are of two principal 
kinds : 

1. The iambus, having the second syllable accented, 
the first unaccented. Formula : ^ - 



I know | not where | His is | lands lift 
Their frond | ed palms | in air. — Whittiek. 

2. The trochee, having the first syllable accented, the 
second unaccented. Formula : - ~ 



Dulcet- | eyed as | Ceres' | daughter. — Keats. 

Trochaic verses have a light tripping movement, and 
are best adapted to lively subjects. 



Obs.— The spondee and pyrrhic are two-syllable feet seldom 
found except in connection with other meters. The former con- 
sists of two accented syllables, as in the first foot of the line : 

Bright star! | would I were steadfast as thou art. — Keats. 

The latter consists of two unaccented syllables, as in the second 
foot of the line : 



New-light | ed on | a heav | en-kiss | ing hill. — Shakspere. 



250. The three-syllable feet are of three kinds : 

1. The anapcst, having the third accented, the first 
and second unaccented. Formula : ~ ~ — 

For a field | of the dead | rushes red | on my sight. 

— Campbell. 



266 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

2. The dactyl, having the first accented, the second 
and third unaccented. Formula : — w "- 

When can their | glo ry fade ? 

Oh, the wild | charge they made ! — Tennyson. 

3. The amphibrach, having the second syllable 
accented, the first and third unaccented. Formula : ~ - ~ 

I gal loped, | Dirck gal loped, | we gal loped | all three. 

— Browning. 

Amphibrachic meter is rare. 

251. The common varieties of poetic feet are aptly 
illustrated in the following stanza : 

Trochee trips from long to short ; 
From long to short in solemn sort 
Slow Spondee stalks ; strong foot ! yet ill able 
Ever to come up with Dactyl trisyllable. 
Iambics march from short to long ; — 
With a leap and a bound the swift Anapests throng. 

— Coleridge. 

Divide the above verses into their separate feet, and 
mark the accented syllables of each. 

Obs. I. — The anapest and iambus, having the accent on the 
last syllable, are similar in movement, and are found combined in 
mixed verse. 

The word | of the Lord | by night, 

To the watch | ing Pil | grims came. — Emerson. 

Obs. II. — The dactyl and trochee, being similar in movement, 
are found combined in mixed verse. 

Narrowing | in to | where they | sat as | sembled 
Low vol | up tuous | music | winding | trembled. 

— Tennyson. 



PROSODY. 267 

Obs. III. — Lines made up of mixed dactyls and trochees often 
occur in alternation with lines made up of mixed anapests and 
iambics. 

Strew on her | roses | roses, 
And nev | er a spray | of yew ! — Matthew Arnold. 



252. In regard to their ending, verses may be — 

1. Catalectic — lacking an unaccented syllable at 
the end. 

Shall I | wasting | in de | spair 

Die be | cause a | woman's | fair? — George Wither. 

2. Acatalectic — having all feet complete. 

At a | touch sweet | Pleasure | melteth, 

Like to | bubbles | when rain | pelteth. — Keats. 

3. Hypercatalectic — having one or two unaccented 
syllables extra. 

Yet in | these thoughts | myself | almost | despis | ing. 



253. The meter of verse is determined by the num- 
ber of feet it contains; and each meter is described as 
iambic, trochaic, anapestic, or dactylic, according to the 
kind of foot employed. 

The meters most common in English verse are : 

1. Monometer, containing a single foot. 

2. Dimeter, containing two feet. 

3. Trimeter, containing three feet. 
Jf. Tetrameter, containing four feet. 



268 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

5. Pentameter, containing five feet. 

6. Hexameter, containing six feet. 

7. Heptameter, containing seven feet. 

The following are examples of these. The formulae 
at the right describe them as iambic monometer, trim- 
eter, etc. : 

I. Iambic Measures. 

Bereaved, 

Deceived, 

I must 

Not trust. (1 «- — ) — Hereick. 



My soul | to-day 

Is far | away. (2 ~ — ) 

— T. Buchanan Read. 

So let | our he | roes rest 

Upon | your sun | ny breast. (3 *-■ — ) 

— ALDRICn. 

I breathed | a song | into | the air. 

It fell | to earth | I knew | not where. (4 ~ — ) 

— Longfellow. 

The cur | few tolls | the knell | of part | ing day, 
The low | ing herd | winds slow | ly o'er | the lea. (5 «- — ) 

— Gray. 

For she | was won | drous fair | as an | y liv | ing wight. (6 ~ — ) 

— Spenser. 

There's not | a joy | the world | can give | like that | it takes | away. 
(7 - — ) —Byron. 



PROSODY. 2bU 

Iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter — 
the second and fourth verses rhyming — is called ballad 

meter. 

They had | na sailed | a league | a league, 

A league | but bare | ly three, 
When the | lift grew | dark, and | the wind | blew loud, 
And gur | ly grew | the sea. 

(Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens.) 

Iambic tetrameter ( 4 ~ — ) is the verse of most of 
Scott's poems. 

Iambic rhymed pentameter ( 5 ~ — ) is called heroic 
measure. It was the most common verse form in English 
poetry throughout the eighteenth century. It is the 
verse usually employed by Pope and Dryden. 

Hope springs | eter | nal in | the hu | man breast ; 
Man nev | er is, | but al | ways to | be blest. — Pope. 

Iambic hexameter (6~— ) is called Alexandrine. It 
is found as the closing line of each stanza of Spenser's 
"Faerie Queene." 

II. Trochaic Measures. 

Splashing, 

Dashing. (1 — ~) — Southey. 

Double | double 

Toil and | trouble. (2 — — ) — Shakspeke. 

Go where | glory | waits thee, 

But while | fame e | lates thee. (3 — — ) — Moore. 

Life is | real | life is | earnest. (4 — — ) — Longfellow. 

Where my | heart lies | let my | brain lie | also ! (5 — ~ ) 

— Browning. 

Dark the | shrine and | dumb the | fount of | song thence | welling. 

(6 — —) — Swinburne. 

Tell me | what thy | lordly | name is | on the | night's Phi | tonian | 

shore. (7 - —, with added syllable). — Poe. 



270 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Trochaic mono-meter and dimeter are used chiefly in 
combination with other meters. Trochaic trimeter is 
but little used. Trochaic tetrameter is the measure of 
Longfellow's "Hiawatha," the only long English poem 
written in unrhymed trochees. One of the rare examples 
of the successful use of trochaic pentameter will be found 
in Browning's "One Word More": 

Hardly | shall I | tell my | joys and | sorrows, 
Hopes and | fears, be | lief and | disbe | lieving. 

III. Anapestic Measures. 



On thy bank 

In a rank. (1 ~ — — ) 



Drayton. 



Like a gloom | y stain 

On the em | erald main. (2 — — — ) 

— Shelley. 

Her sons | are as stones | in the way, 

They are trod | den and move | not away. (3 — ~ — ) 

— Shelley. 

Three fish | ers went sail | ing out in | to the West, (4 — — — ) 
Out in | to the West | as the sun | went down. 

— Kingsley. 

And the sleep | in the dried | river chan | nel where bul | 

rushes tell 
That the wa | ter was wont | to go war | bling so soft | ly 

and well. (5 — ~ — ) 

— Browning. 

English poetry has very little pure auapestic verse; 
it is usually found, as in several of the examples here 
given, combined with iambics. 



PROSODY— RHYME. 271 



IV. Dactylic Measures. 

Memory- 
Tell to me. (1 - - ~) 

— George Eliot. 

Lips touched by | seraphim 

Breathe out the | choral hymn. (2 — — — ) 

— Shelley. 

Wearing a | way in his | youthfulness, 
Loveliness, | beauty, and | truthfulness. (3 — — — ) 

Brightest and | best of the | sons of the | morning. (4 — — ~) 

— Heber. 

Dance the e j lastic dac | tylics with | musical | cadences. (5 — — — ) 

— Story. 

Pure dactylic meter is rare in English ; dactyls are 
usually found combined with spondees or trochees, as in 
the fourth example above. Dactylic hexameter is the 
verse of the great epics of antiquity — the "Iliad" and 
"Odyssey" of Homer, and the "iEneid" of Virgil. In 
English it is regarded as a weaker form of verse. Long- 
fellow's "Evangeline," however, is admirably written in 
this measure. 

RHYME. 

254. Rhyme is the correspondence in sound at the 
end of lines of poetry or verse. 

Single rhymes are those of one syllable; as, reap, 
weep. 

Double rhymes are those of two syllables; as, reap- 
ing, weeping. 

Triple rhymes are those of three syllables ; as, 
tenderly, slenderly. 



272 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Eye rhymes are those in which the rhyme-words are 
similarly spelled but differently pronounced; as, love, 
rove. 

Ear rhymes are those in which the rhyme-words are 
dissimilarly spelled but similarly pronounced ; as, rough, 



To assist the mind in noting rhymes, rhyming lines 
are often indented, or placed equi-distant from the left 
margin. 

I held it truth, with him who sings 
To one clear harp in divers tones, 
That men may rise on stepping stones 
Of their dead selves to higher things. — Tennyson. 

255. Blank verse is verse without rhyme, and is 
usually iambic pentameter, occasionally catalectic or 
hypercatalectic. 

Thou go not like a quarry-slave at night 

Scourged to his dungeon ; but sustained and soothed 

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 

Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. — Bryant. 

256. The caesura is a break or pause near the 
middle of a verse. It is usually identical with a pause 
in sense, and is commonly found in the middle of a foot, 
as in the second example here given. 



1. How dear | to this heart | are the scenes | of my child | hood. 

— WOODWORTH. 

2. Silently | one by | one || in the | infinite | meadows of 

Heaven 
Blossomed the | lovely | stars || the for- | get-me- | nots of the | 
angels. — Longfellow. 



PHOSOD Y— RHYME. 273 

Obs. — Sometimes the caesura is thrown farther to the begin- 
ning or the end of the verse : 

Not to me returns 
Day, I or the sweet approach of even or morn. — Milton. 
Immortal dead who live again 
In minds made better by their presence : || live 
In pulses stirred to generosity. — Geokge Eliot. 

257. Scanning- is the dividing of a verse into the 
feet of which it is composed. This may be done by 
separating the feet by short vertical lines, and marking 
the accents, or by reading with proper accentuation and 
a slight pause at the end of each foot, a longer one at 
the caesura. 

Exercise. 

Scan the following verses, classify the feet, and men- 
tion the meter : 

1. Above the pines the moon was slowly drifting, 

The river sang below. — Bret Harte. 

2. Once he sang of summer, 
Nothing but the summer. — Aldrich. 

3. From the center all round to the sea 

I am lord of the fowl and the brute. — Cowper. 

4. Faded the vapors that seemed to encompass him. 

5. The cock is crowing, 
The stream is flowing, 
The small birds twitter, 

The lake doth glitter. — Wordsworth. 

6. Have you read in the Talmud of old, 
In the Legends the Rabbins have told 

Of the limitless realms of the air, 
Have you read it, — the marvelous story 
Of Sandalphon, the Angel of Glory, 

Sandalphon, the Angel of Prayer? — Longfellow. 



274 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

7. Downward through the evening twilight, 
In the days that are forgotten. 

In the unremembered ages. — Longfellow. 

8. 'Tis not the grapes of Canaan that repay, 

But the high faith that failed not by the way. — Lowell. 

9. The frost is here, 
And fuel is dear, 
And woods are sear, 

And fires burn clear. — Tennyson. 



STANZA AND VERSE. 

258. A stanza is a group of rhymed verses. 

259. A verse is a single line of poetry. 

260. A couplet or distich is a stanza of two 
rhymed verses. 

It's hardly in a body's power 

To keep at times frae being sour. — Burns. 

261. A triplet is a stanza of three rhymed verses. 

If Nature put not forth her power 

About the opening of the flower, 

Who is it that could live an hour? — Tennyson. 

262. A quatrain is a stanza of four rhymed verses ; 
the term is most commonly applied, not to a stanza 
forming part of a long poem, but to a short poem of four 
verses, complete in itself. 

Bonnet in hand, obsequious and discreet, 

The butcher that served Shakspere with his meat 

Doubtless esteemed him little, as a man 

Who knew not how the market prices ran. — Aldricii. 



PROSODY— STANZA AND VERSE. 275 



263. A quintet is a stanza of five verses. 

Parks and ponds are good by day; 

I do not delight 

In black acres of the nigbt, 

Nor my unseasoned step disturbs 

The sleeps of trees or dreams of herbs. — Emerson. 



264. A sestet is a stanza of six verses. Various 
forms of this stanza are seen in Longfellow's " Sandal- 
phon" and Hood's " Dream of Eugene Aram." The term 
sestet is commonly applied only to the last six verses of a 
sonnet or short poem of fourteen verses, of which the 
first eight verses form the octave. 

For examples of sestet and octave, combined, see 
Sec. 266. 

265. A Spenserian stanza is one of nine verses, 
eight iambic pentameter and one Alexandrine, with a 
peculiar rhyme-system. Byron's " Child e Harold" and 
Keats' "Eve of St. Agnes" are beautifully written in 
Spenserian stanza. It is named from Edmund Spenser, 
who invented it, and first used it in his "Faerie Queene." 

A gentle knight was pricking on the plain, 
Yclad in mighty arms and silver shield, 
"Wherein old dints of deep wounds did remain, 
The cruel marks of many a bloody field; 
Yet arms till that time did he never wield. 
His angry steed did chide his foaming bit, 
As much disdaining to the curb to yield : 
Full jolly knight he seemed, and fair did sit, 
As one for knightly jousts and fierce encounters fit. 

— Spenser. 

Observe that the rhyming verses are the first and 
third, the second, fourth, fifth, and seventh, and the 
sixth, eighth, and ninth. 



276 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

266. A sonnet is a poem o! fourteen iambic pentam- 
eter verses. It consists of two parts — an octave and a 
sestet. One method of rhyming is seen in the follow- 
ing ; this form of sonnet is called Petrarchan, from the 
Italian poet Petrarch : 

SLEEP. 

When to soft Sleep we give ourselves away 

And in a dream as in a fairy bark 

Drift on and on through the enchanted dark 

To purple daybreak — little thought we pay 

To that sweet bitter world we know by day. 

We are clean quit of it, as is a lark 

So high in heaven no human eye can mark 

The thin swift pinion cleaving through the gray. 

Till we awake ill fate can do no ill. 

The resting heart shall not take up again 

The heavy load that yet must make it bleed ; 

For this brief space the loud world's voice is still, 

No faintest echo of it brings us pain. 

How will it be when we shall sleep indeed ? — Aldricu. 

The so-called Shaksperean form of sonnet has a dif- 
ferent rhyme-system, as follows : 

When I have fears that I may cease to be 

Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, 

Before high-piled books, in charact'iy, 

Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain; 

When I behold, upon the night's starred face, 

Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, 

And think that I may never live to trace 

Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance ; 

And when I feel, fair Creature of an hour ! 

That I shall never look upon thee more, 

Never have relish in the faery power 

Of unreflecting love, — then on the shore 

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think 

Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink. — Keats. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 277 

267. The foregoing are standard forms of stanza 
to which the poet is not necessarily limited. As new 
thoughts are evolved, he may invent other stanzas or 
measures more suggestive and better adapted to his pur- 
pose. Striking examples of novel forms are seen in — 

Tennyson's "Flower in the Crannied Wall." 
Poe's "Annabel Lee." 

Emerson's "The Mountain and the Squirrel." 
Swinburne's "Atalanta in Calydon." 
Browning's "Abt Vogler." 



STYLE AND AET OF COMPOSITION. 

268. Composition is the art of uniting words in 
sentences, and sentences in paragraphs, to make connected 
discourse. Grammar treats of the forms of words and 
their relations in the sentence by law; composition treats 
of the suitability of words and sentences to express the 
meaning intended by the writer. Thus the manner in 
which thought is expressed belongs to composition, and is 
called style. The style of a writer is his manner of 
expression, and is largely individual. No style is good, 
however, unless it be correct, clear, and forcible. 

Words. 

269. A well-constructed sentence must have "proper 
words in proper places." By proper words we mean 
English words used by good writers of our own time. 
Whether or not a word is a proper English word may 
be found out by consulting the dictionary. For example, 
the following words are not recognized by the dictionary : 
Biz (for business), aren't (for are not), blase (a French 
word for wearied), a wire (for a telegram), etc. 



278 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

EXEKCISE. 

Find suitable English words for the expressions itali- 
cized : 

1. Then the audience enthused over her. 

2. Our house was burglarized last night. 

3. My teacher made us write a compo. 

4. I disremember meeting you before. 

5. "I am a saleslady," she said. "Then I must be a 

coach gentleman," retorted Thomas. 

6. They have not proven their case. 

7. Ere he spoke, the chairman interposed. 

8. Our instructress in the gym was Miss Smith. 

270. A word may be a good English word when 
used properly, yet be incorrectly or unsuitably applied. 
Consult the dictionary to find what the proper use of 
any word is. For example, the dictionary does not 
authorize the use of claim in the meaning of assert, as, 
"I claim that Illinois is the best State in the Union"; 
liable for likely, as, "We are liable to go to- the sea- 
shore." 

Exercise. 

Select proper words to take the place of italicized 
expressions in the following sentences. Give the real 
meaning of the words wrongly used : 

The room was luxuriantly furnished. 
Elections are apt to effect prices. 
Are oysters a liealthy diet ? 
You hadn't ought to have said so. 

5. He wasn't to home when I called. 

6. They tried to cheat most every day. 

7. He looked kind of surprised to see you. 

8. Were his instructions verbal or written? 

9. Father gave me an elegant bicycle. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 279 

10. I reckon I shall have to go. 

11. The war was continual from 1860 to 1865. 

12. The rest of the hoys were real mad with him. 

13. The residence was erected during our absence. 

Why is the dictionary the final authority on the usage 
of words? 



Obs. — Slang is the name usually given to vulgar and colloquial 
misuses of words. Slang should be avoided, first, because contrary 
to accepted authority, and secondly, because its use exhibits a 
writer as ignorant and vulgar. 



Exercise. 

(a) Find correct expressions for the following slang 

1. We ain't ready yet. 

2. The horse has a gait on him. 

3. This is bully, or jolly, or nice, or awful, etc. 

4. Tom is a jolly coon. 

5. I should smile. 



(b) Discriminate carefully between the use of the 
adverb and the adjective in cases like the following : 

6. The pupils marched [quiet, quietly] through the hall. 

7. This velvet feels [smooth, smoothly]. 

8. The moon looks [calm, calmly] down on the scene. 

9. My head feels [bad, badly]. 
10. Birds sang [sweet, sweetly]. 



Obs. — In the examples given in Sees. 269, 270, the italicized 
forms are incorrect ; they either do not belong to the language or 
are improperly used. On page 284, examples are given of two 
or more English words with slightly different meanings, which are 
frequently confused. 



280 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

271. For the sake of clearness, a well-constructed 
sentence must have "proper words %n proper places." 
Hence all modifiers should he placed near the elements 
which they limit, to avoid ambiguity or obscurity. 

j \ We saw a horse plowing with one eye. (Obscure.) 

I We saw a horse with one eye plowing. (Clear.) 
a j The man only paid ten dollars. (Obscure.) 
( The man paid only ten dollars. (Clear.) 
A servant will obey a master's orders that he loves. 

(Ambiguous.) 
A servant will obey the orders of a master that he 
loves. (Clear.) 

, j Thus the son the aged father addressed. (Ambiguous.) 
( Thus his son the aged father addressed. (Clear.) 

Exercise. 

Arrange the words in the following sentences in the 
proper order : 

1. My teacher has not only told me so, but I can see it for 

myself. 

2. I only got one. 

3. On entering the room, three beautiful pictures catch 

the eye. 

4. Taking it, he placed upon his head a brazen helmet. 

5. A lady sat threading a needle with a Roman nose. 

6. In the military school, the Czar himself kisses the 

cadets in full uniform. 



272. Ambiguity or obscurity is frequently caused by 
the omission of a needed word or by the ambiguous use 
of a pronoun. 

1. You don't seem to like anything I do. 

2. Their rebuke had the effect intended. 

3. I imagine a lighted city, from above, would hardly 

seem a city. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 281 

4. Under the circumstances, I must admit you acted fairly. 

5. He said he didn't want the pencil any longer. 

6. I can't rind one of my books. 

7. He told his friend that if he did not feel better in an hour, 
he thought he had better return. 

8. Next morning when the farmer approached with a knife and 
seized the turkey-cock, he knew what was coming. 

273. By "proper words" in composition we mean 
that words should not only indicate the thought correctly, 
according to the meaning given in the dictionary, but 
also fit the style or manner of thought. Petty or simple 
thoughts are not made dignified by clothing them in 
bombastic language. Pompons writing is both silly and 
obscure. Thus, Mr. B's mansion completely succumbed 
to the fury of the devouring element, means merely 
that Mr. B's house was burned. 

Select simple words for commonplace or simple thought. 

Exercise. 

Find simple natural expressions for the inflated lan- 
guage of the following sentences : 

1. A musical soiree was to have been rendered by the X 
company in Union Hall last evening, but the unprecedented 
inclemency of the weather necessitated its postponement. 

2. Gen. H. was made the recipient of the grateful acknowledg- 
ments of the members constituting his personal staff. 

3. Inquiry developed the fact that the prisoner had sustained 
a fracture of the clavicle, and the services of a physician were 
hurriedly called into requisition. 

If.. In Chicago, the place of his nativity, he engaged in com- 
merce, erected a residence, and attained a high degree of popularity 
among his fellow-citizens. 

5. A vast concourse was assembled to witness the conflagra- 
tion as it extended its devastating career. 



282 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

6. He commenced his rejoinder. 

7. The chief magistrate of the city tendered him a banquet. 

8. The family was discovered to be in a condition of complete 
indigence. 

9. The W. and L. people were offered an opportunity to par- 
ticipate in the pecuniary advantages of the arrangement. 



274. The use of too many words to express our 
meaning weakens the clearness and force of composition. 
Do not expand a word into a phrase, a phrase into a 
clause, or a clause into a sentence, unless additional 
thought requires the increase in the number of words. 
In the sentence, "Hence comes the universal testimony 
which all the nations of the earth have conspired to give 
to some few works of genius," the relative clause merely 
restates what is meant by universal. 



Exercise. 

In the following sentences omit superfluous words, and, 
where necessary, substitute a short construction for a 
wordy long one : 

1. The regulation soon became a mere dead letter. 

2. I hope that the collection will be up to the usual average. 

3. Louis and his teacher got as far as New York, with what 
mutual satisfaction to each other need not be specially imagined. 

4- In what State did you say Chicago was in J 

5. I do not admit of that agreement. 

6. His favorite sport was in riding bicycle races. 

7. This book is meant for new beginners in Latin. 

8. Every man on the face of the earth has duties to perform. 

9. To say that all forethought is a thing of which there is 
no need is wild talk. 

10. He lives in fame that perishes while striving to make the 
world more sensitive to the requirements of honor. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 283 

11. It were better for him that a heavy weight of rock were 
attached by a rope about his neck, and that he were then precipi- 
tated headlong into the briny deep of the ocean. 

12. In knowledge of the human heart, Shakspere surpassed 
all those who were living at the same time with him. 

13. The spendthrift robs his heirs, but the miser deprives 
himself of all the benefits to be obtained from his hoarded wealth. 

14. The book is so written as to give the reader a sense of 
tediousness. 

15. The extent and fertility of the Russian territory are such 
as to furnish facilities of increase and elements of strength which 
no other nation in the world enjoys. 



275. Variety in words is to be sought for. Note 
that our language is very rich in synonyms — words which 
have nearly the same meaning. In careful writing we 
should discriminate between two synonyms, choosing the 
one that more closely fits our meaning. A few such 
words are discussed below : 

Famous, celebrated, illustrious, renowned. A man may 
be famous as an inventor, celebrated as an author, illus- 
trious as a statesman, and renowned as a soldier. 

Alitor and detest. We abhor debt; we detest treachery. 

Only, alone. An only child has neither brother nor 
sister ; a child alone is one not accompanied. 

Vacant, empty. A house untenanted is vacant ; it is 
empty if it contains no furnishings. 

Cheer, encourage, comfort. The sad require to be 
cheered, the timid to be encouraged, the distressed to be 
comforted. 

1. Console us when we fall; cheer us when we recover. 

— Burke. 

2. Sleep seldom visits sorrow; 

When it does, it is a comforter. — Shakspere. 



284 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Displease, offend. The first refers to conduct in gen- 
eral ; the second, to a special act. An employer may be 
displeased with his clerk's behavior ; he is offended when 
the clerk neglects to obey orders. 

House, home, residence, mansion. House refers to the 
building used for a home. Eesidence is a more preten- 
tious word for house, implying the habitual, permanent 
home of a family. Mansion is a general poetic term 
used sometimes for manor-house. Thus : 

3. In that house (not home) on Elm Street, they made their 
home (not residence). 

4. For ten years his residence was in Washington. 

5. "In my Father's house are many mansions." 
6'. Their home was an old Southern mansion. 

Exercise. 

Select the most suitable synonyms from the words 
enclosed in brackets, and state what modifications in 
meaning would result from the use of the others : 

1. That fact [alone, only] proves me right. 

2. He [alone, only] of all present had the courage to speak. 

3. They disturbed the [quiet, peace] of the neighborhood. 

4. The nest was half [obscured, hidden, concealed] by the foliage. 

5. The passengers [abandoned, deserted] the sinking steamer. 

6. Thereupon the terror-stricken recruits [abandoned, deserted] 
their colors. 

7. My brother is [stopping, staying] at the Seaview Hotel. 

8. Mr. B.'s death leaves a [vacant, empty] seat in the Stock 
Exchange. 

9. The prisoner [avowed, confessed, acknowledged, admitted] 
the crime, and begged the judge to be [lenient, merciful]. 



Note.— The pupil is advised to keep a note-book for the collection of synonyms. 
The dictionary, or a book of synonyms, will give the needed information about 
shades of meaning. Much of the beauty and force of good composition is due to a 
discriminating use of synonyms. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 285 

Sentences. 

276. In constructing sentences our first care should 
be to have them correct in syntax. This matter has 
already been treated in Sees. 182, 183. Review carefully 
exercises on pp. 193, 200, 203. Some common faults 
are summarized here : 

1. False concord — the strata is; he don't care; 
these kind. 

2. Wrong use of possessive — the house's roof; the 
wealth whose possession is craved. 

3. Wrong use of adverb for adjective, or adjective 
for adverb — the then emperor; I felt had. 

J/.. Misuse of auxiliaries (especially shall and will) — 
I will see you to-morrow ; can we be excused ? 

5. Use of which, without definite antecedent — He 
walked down the street rapidly, which showed his anxiety. 

6. False sequence of tenses — No one would study 
unless he hopes to be wise. 

7. Use of conjunction for preposition, or preposition 
for conjunction — without for unless; like for as. 

8. False use of correlative pronouns — He neither saw 
me nor my brother ; I like neither winter or summer ; 
either one of the three will answer. 

9. Division of infinitive — to thoroughly enjoy. 

10. False use of participles — Finding him at home, 
it was decided not to go farther. 



286 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

EXEKCISE. 

Correct the errors in syntax in the following sentences: 

1. I have no doubt but what he meant to have told you so 
long ago. 

2. Every citizen, who recognize the need, ought to use their 
influence. 

3. Can I have the key to your room, or will I ask the janitor 
for it ? 

4. Turning into the square the post hit him, causing him to 
shy. 

5. While sitting in my room after supper, the fire alarm 
sounded. 

6. Neither you nor nobody else ever saw me do it. 

7. It must be ten years ago since he left home. 

8. Lend me the loan of your ruler for a little while. 

9. I know not from whence he came, or where he went to. 

10. He would have gone home if I had not have stopped him. 

11. I see them most every day. 

12. He came very near being drowned. 

13. Was it a man or a woman's voice that we heard ? 
111.. Neither you or I are in the wrong. 

15. Any boy with any sense in their head would have known 
the difference. 

16. If he don't come, be sure and let me know. 

17. Has the jury brought in their verdict yet ? 

18. Let us hope that the boys will come home with a good 
account of the kite's conduct to their father. 

19. There is both a large and small dictionary in the library. 

20. Who were you talking to when Mary and me passed you? 

21. The truth is, she don't go to school very regular. 

22. Pupils should not be asked to write on such subjects 
without they have access to a library. 

23. Neither the chairman nor the secretary would give their 
consent. 

2J/,. I never have nor never will agree to such a proposal. 

25. The "Elegy" is one of the few poems that is not injured 
by constant repetition. 

26. Candidates must be careful only to use such contractions 
as are generally used, or which can not be mistaken. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 287 



form into three principal classes : Loose, periodic, and 
balanced. 

1. In a loose sentence there is at least one place 
before the end where the grammatical structure is com- 
plete. 

1. Columbus was the first European who set foot on the shore 
of the new world, which he had discovered. 

This sentence might close at European, or at world, 
and a complete statement would be made, although not 
the one intended by the writer. 

2. In a periodic sentence the grammatical structure 
is not complete until the end. 

2. If this be treason, make the most of it. 

3. Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though 
I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth 
me nothing. 

Sentence 3 would not make a complete statement if 
a period were placed after poor, or burned, or charity. 
All the words are required to make a proposition. 

3. In a balanced sentence corresponding clauses are 
similar in form but contrasted in meaning. 

4- God made the country, and man made the town. 
5. In peace, children bury their parents ; in war, parents bury 
their children. 

A balanced sentence may also be either loose or 
periodic in structure. 

278. In the periodic sentence the meaning is sus- 
pended until the sentence is finished, while in the loose 
form the meaning is gathered before the end. In a periodic 



288 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

sentence the modifying elements are placed before the 
principal statement, thus adding strength, while in a 
loose sentence the modifiers are placed where they natu- 
rally occur. The periodic form is stronger, more digni- 
fied, more involved ; the loose form is simpler, easier, and 
more natural. All sentences are either loose or periodic. 

Note the positions of the modifiers in the following : 
Loose. Periodic. 

We came to our journey's At last, after much fatigue, 

end after much fatigue, through through deep roads and bad 
deep roads and bad weather. weather, we came to our jour- 

ney's end. 

His actions were frequently Though his actions were fre- 

criticised, but his character was quently criticised, his character 
above criticism. was above criticism. 

His tireless brain was never From week's end to week's 

at rest, from morning to night, end, from morning to night, his 
from week's end to week's end. tireless brain was never at rest. 



279. A loose sentence may be made periodic by 
inverting the position of the modifiers, by the use of 
correlatives (either, or; neither, nor; both, and; not only, 
but also, etc.), by the substitution of a participial phrase 
for other elements, or by changing a proposition into 
a causal clause. 

Exercise. 

Change the following sentences from loose to periodic. 
In each sentence put the italicized word at the end. 
Note the gain in strength : 

1. We laid him dotcn slowly and sadly. 

2. The old clock suddenly stopped, before the family was stirring, 
early one summer morning. 

3. I shall attempt neither to palliate nor deny the atrocious 
crime of being a young man. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 289 

4. One generation would have no advantage over another, if 
this opinion were well founded. 

5. He had received large subscriptions for his promised edition 
of Shakspere ; he had lived on these subscriptions for some years, 
and he could not without disgrace omit to perform his part of the 
contract. — Macaulay. 

6. His son lacked his father's eminent position and also the 
talent and force of character to achieve it ; he could, therefore, 
effect nothing by dint of political interest. 

Obs. — No one form of sentence should be used exclusively. 
A writer should aim at variety in his style, both in length and 
in structure of his sentences. Each one of the classes discussed 
above has its advantages : The loose sentence is natural and 
simple, the periodic forcible, and the balanced, pleasing to the 
ear; but the loose sentence is weak, the periodic, requiring close 
attention, becomes fatiguing, and the balanced is artificial. Adapt 
each sentence to the character of the thought, and vary one form 
with another. 

Exercise. 

(a) In the following passage, written by a great 
master of English prose, Burke, note the variety in 
structure and length, the skillful arrangement of clauses, 
the emphasis lent to important words by placing them 
in important positions, and the peculiar fitness of each 
word to express the meaning intended : 

(1) It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen 
of France, at Versailles ; and surely never lighted on this orb 

(2) a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, 
decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun 
to move in — glittering like the morning star, full of life and 

(3) splendor and joy. O what a revolution ! and what a heart 
must I have to contemplate without emotion that elevation 

(4) and that fall ! Little did I dream when she added titles of 
veneration to those of distant, respectful love, that she should 
ever be obliged to carry the sharp antidote against disgrace con- 

19 



290 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(5) cealed in that bosom. Little did I dream that I should have 
lived to see such disasters fallen on her in a nation of gallant 

(6) men — in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers. I thought 
ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards 

(7) to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the 

(8) age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and 
calculators has succeeded, and the glory of Europe is extin- 

(9) guished forever. Never, never more shall we behold that 
generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that 
dignified obedience which kept alive, even in servitude itself, 
the spirit of an exalted freedom. 

What sentiment is expressed in 1 and 2 ? in 3 ? in 7 
and 8 ? in the last sentence ? What figures of rhetoric 
are employed in 1 and 2 ? Are they inconsistent ? What 
figure in 5 ? Which sentences are periodic ? which loose ? 
Point out the repetitions, and explain the purpose served 
by each of them. Indicate the transposed sentences. 
Change these to the natural order. What is the result ? 
What is meant by the phrase, the sharp antidote against 
disgrace ? What figure of rhetoric in antidote ? Why is 
this term peculiarly forcible here ? Point out the felicity 
of the adjectives in the phrases, generous loyalty, proud 
submission, dignified obedience. What would be the effect 
of substituting slavery for servitude in 9 ? of substituting 
the for each that in the same sentence ? 

To what kind of composition does this extract belong? 

(b) The following paragraph from Irving's " Legend 
of Sleepy Hollow" illustrates a style noted for elegance 
and sinrplicity : 

(1) Thus feeding his mind with many sweet thoughts, Ichabod 
journeyed along the sides of a range of hills which look out 

(2) upon some of the goodliest scenes of the mighty Hudson. The 
sun gradually wheeled his broad disk down into the west. 

(3) The wide bosom of the Tappan Zee lay motionless and glassy, 
excepting that here and there a gentle undulation waved and 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 291 

(4) prolonged the blue shadow of the distant mountain. The 
horizon was of a fine, golden tint, changing gradually into a 
pure apple-green, and from that into the deep blue of the 

(5) mid-heaven. A slanting ray lingered on the woody crests of 
the precipices that overhung some parts of the river, giv- 
ing greater depth to the dark-gray and purple of their rocky 
sides. 

What is the character of this kind of composition ? 
What train of thought connects the sentences? Name 
the figures of rhetoric in the paragraph. What words 
in 1 are found more often in poetry than in prose ? Are 
the sentences loose, periodic, or balanced ? What is 
gained by making 2 shorter than 1 ? than 3 ? Which is 
the longest sentence in the extract ? Justify the use in 
3 of the phrase blue shadoiv. If the phrase, pure apple- 
green, in 4 were changed into purely apple-green, would 
the sentence gain or lose ? Why ? Is the adjective rocky 
in 5 superfluous ? Substitute a synonym for lingered in 
5. What is the effect ? 



(1) That night they lay down and slept together, with Beller- 
ophon's arm about the neck of Pegasus, not as a caution, but 

(2) for kindness. And they awoke at peep of day, and bade one 
another good morning, each in his own language. 

(3) In this manner, Bellerophon and the wondrous steed spent 
several days, and grew better acquainted and fonder of each 

(4) other all the time. They went on long aerial journeys, and 
sometimes ascended so high that the earth looked hardly bigger 

(5) than the moon. They visited distant countries, and amazed 
the inhabitants, who thought that the beautiful young man on 
the back of the winged horse must have come down out of 

(6) the sky. A thousand miles a day was no more than an easy 

(7) space for the fleet Pegasus to pass over. Bellerophon was 
delighted with this kind of life, and would have liked nothing 
better than to live always in the same way, aloft in the clear 
atmosphere ; for it was always sunny weather up there, how- 
ever cheerless and rainy it might be in the lower region. 



292 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(S) But be could not forget the horrible Chimsera which he had 
(9) promised King Iobates to slay. So, at last, when he had 
become well accustomed to feats of horsemanship in the air, 
and could manage Pegasus with the least motion of his hand, 
and had taught him to obey his voice, he determined to 
attempt the performance of this perilous adventure. 

—From il 77ie Chimcera," Hawthorne. 

Select the periodic sentences in the above passage. 
Why are most of the sentences loose ? For what purpose 
was the last sentence made periodic ? Write sentence 5 
in periodic form. 

What words do you notice that are unfamiliar to you 
in prose-writing? Fiud synonyms for all adjectives; for 
all verbs. What different meanings do Hawthorne's words 
have from these synonyms ? 



280. A sentence, to be readily understood, must be 
limited to the expression of but one leading thought. 
Thus we obtain unity of expression. The following 
directions will be of use : 

1. Change the subject of the sentence as rarely as 

e. 



My friends turned back after we had reached the vessel, on 
board of which / was received by the passengers icho showed me 
much attention. 

Here the subject is changed four times, and the result 
is a medley of friends, we, I, and iuIio. A reduction in 
the number of subjects makes the sentence much more 
clear and forcible : 

My friends having turned back after we had reached the 
vessel, the passengers received me on board and showed me much 
attention. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 293 

2. Do not include in one sentence matters not closely 
connected in thought. 

After Napoleon escaped from Elba and landed on the French 
coast, he advanced as rapidly as possible towards Paris ; but on the 
way was met by Marshal Ney's troops, who had sworn to bring 
him back in an iron cage, but who now saluted him as Emperor. 

Here is material enough for three sentences : 

Napoleon escaped from Elba and landed on the French coast. 
Advancing as rapidly as possible towards Paris, he was met on the 
way by Marshal Ney's troops. These had sworn to return with 
him in an iron cage, but they now saluted him as Emperor. 

3. Unite into one sentence all statements closely 
connected in thought. 

The man bought the overcoat. It was for a poor boy. The 
boy had gone cold all winter. 

Here are three statements which properly make but 
one proposition. 

The man bought the overcoat for a poor boy, who had gone 
cold all winter. 

Exercise. 

Rewrite the following sentences, preserving unity in 
each : 

1. London, which is a very dirty city, has a population of 
above 5,000,000. 

2. The lion is a noble animal, and has been known to live 
fifty years in captivity. 

3. Chinese women are industrious, and use, as embellishments 
of their beauty, paint and false hair. 

4. I received the books yesterday, and I am very much pleased 
with them, but you sent me one too many, but I find I may need 
it, and so I will keep it. [Recast into three sentences.] 



294 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

5. The march of the soldiers was through an uncultivated 
country, whose savage inhabitants fared badly, having no other 
riches than a breed of lean sheep, whose flesh was unsavory by 
reason of their continual feeding on sea fish. [Recast into three 
sentences. ] 

6. In the afternoon we sailed again for Vineyard Haven, where 
we spent tbe night, returning the next day, which turned out to 
be fine after all, to the harbor from which we had started at first. 
[Recast into three sentences.] 

7. All old festivals awaken strong associations. Christmas 
awakens the strongest. They are most heartfelt. [Unite.] 

8. The abilities of Charles were not great. His taste in art 
was indeed exquisite. Few sovereigns have written or spoken 
better. But he was not fitted for active life. [Unite.] 

9. Paul Revere was a zealous patriot. The British army had 
started for Lexington. He was sent to inform Adams and Hancock. 
[Unite.] 

281. To gain force, important words and phrases 
should be placed in the most prominent places, which 
are the beginning and the end of the sentence. For this 
purpose the elements may be inverted or transposed. 
For example, in the sentence, "I have no silver or 
gold," the natural order is less strong than the inverted: 
Silver and gold have I none. In the latter form the 
important words occupy the emphatic positions. 

Exercise. 
Place important words in emphatic positions. 

1. The accepted time is now. 

2. He imprisoned some, he put to death others. 

3. The gate is wide, and the way is broad that leadeth to 
destruction. 

4- I shall never again see my native land. 
5. There is bright dawn rising on the mountain-top above 
the clouds. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 295 

Paragraphing. 

282. After you have selected the subject of a com- 
position, think about it. Do not scribble down the first 
sentence that occurs to you, and then Avait for another 
to suggest itself. Divide the subject into topics, and 
arrange the topics in proper order. The sentences 
relating to each topic will form a paragraph. 

Suppose that the subject is Coal. The first draft of 
the composition might be outlined as follows : 

COAL. 

1. A hard black or brown substance of vegetable origin. Burns 
readily. Occurs in beds or layers. Found in nearly all parts of 
the globe. Coal deposits of United States very extensive. Coal 
fields of Pa., of W. Va., of Ala., of Ohio, of 111., of la. 

2. Varieties of coal — anthracite, bituminous. Grades of each 
variety. Greater value of anthracite. Why? 

3. Uses of coal — for steam engines. Not all kinds of coal 
equally useful for making steam. U. S. war steamers supplied 
with bituminous coal of special grade. 

4. Uses of coal in iron smelting — coke. Iron-manufacturing 
cities always near coal mines. Examples : Pittsburg, Chicago, 
Birmingham, Ala. 

5. Coal needed for various other manufactures. Example : 
Water power to-day giving way to steam power. Reason why. 

6. Most of the coal heat wasted as yet. Coal used for develop- 
ing electric power. Hopes of electricians to get electric power 
direct from coal without intervention of steam-driven machinery. 
Numerous gains that would result therefrom. Cost of electric 
lighting would be lowered. Other practical uses of electricity 
would become more widely spread. 

7. Summary. The importance of coal for civilized life. How 
long will coal remain at the present rate of consumption? 

Could the topics arranged above in seven groups be 
placed in any other order? If so, suggest a new plan. 
After you have determined on your plan, finish the 
composition, forming a paragraph for each group. 



296 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Exercise. 

(a) Indicate where the following selections should 
be paragraphed. Explain your reasons for making the 
divisions : 

THE ENGLISH TONGUE. 

I have somewhere read of an eminent person who used, in his 
private offices of devotion, to give thanks to heaven that he was 
born a Frenchman ; for my own part, I look upon it as a peculiar 
blessing that I was born an Englishman. Among other reasons I 
think myself very happy in my country, as the language of it is 
wonderfully adapted to a man who is sparing of his words and 
an enemy to loquacity. As I have frequently reflected on my good 
fortune in this particular, I shall communicate to the public my 
speculations upon the English tongue, not doubting but they will 
be acceptable to all my curious readers. The English delight in 
silence more than any other European nation, if the remarks made 
on us by foreigners are true. Our discourse is not kept up in 
conversation, but falls into more pauses and intervals than in our 
neighboring countries ; as it is observed, that the matter of our 
writings is thrown much closer together, and lies in a narrower 
compass than is usual in the works of foreign authors : for, to 
favor our natural taciturnity, when we are obliged to utter our 
thoughts, we do it in the shortest way we are able, and give as 
quick a birth to our conceptions as possible. This humor shows 
itself in several remarks that we may make upon the English 
language. As first of all by its abounding in monosyllables, which 
gives us an opportunity of delivering our thoughts in few sounds. 
This, indeed, takes off from the elegance of our tongue, but at the 
same time expresses our ideas in the readiest manner, and conse- 
quently answers the first design of speech better than the multi- 
tude of syllables, which make the words of other languages more 
tunable and more sonorous. The sounds of our English words are 
commonly like those of string music, short and transient, which rise 
and perish upon a single touch; those of other languages are like 
the notes of wind instruments, sweet and swelling, and lengthened 
into variety of modulation.— Addison. 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 297 

THE GREAT STONE FACE. 

One afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and 
her little boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the 
Great Stone Face. They had but to lift their eyes, and there it 
was plainly to be seen, though miles away, with the sunshine 
brightening all its features. And what was the Great Stone Face? 
Embosomed amongst a family of lofty mountains, there was a 
valley so spacious that it contained many thousand inhabitants. 
Some of these good people dwelt in log huts, with the black forest 
all around them, on the steep and difficult hillsides. Others had 
their homes in comfortable farm-houses, and cultivated the rich 
soil on the gentle slopes or level surfaces of the valley. Others, 
again, were congregated into populous villages, where some wild, 
highland rivulet, tumbling down from its birthplace in the upper 
mountain region, had been caught and tamed by human cunning, 
and compelled to turn the machinery of cotton factories. The 
inhabitants of this valley, in short, were numerous, and of many 
modes of life. But all of them, grown people and children, had 
a kind of familiarity with the Great Stone Face, although some 
possessed the gift of distinguishing this grand natural phenomenon 
more perfectly than many of their neighbors. The Great Stone 
Face, then, was a work of Nature in her mood of majestic play- 
fulness, formed on the perpendicular side of a mountain by some 
immense rocks, which had been thrown together in such a position 
as, when viewed at a proper distance, precisely to resemble the 
features of the human countenance. It seemed as if an enormous 
giant, or a Titan, had sculptured his own likeness on the precipice. 
There was the broad arch of the forehead, a hundred feet in 
height ; the nose, with its long bridge ; and the vast lips, which, if 
they could have spoken, would have rolled their thunder accents 
from one end of the valley to the other. True it is, that if the 
spectator approached too near, he lost the outline of the gigantic 
visage, and could discern only a heap of ponderous and gigantic 
rocks, piled in chaotic ruin one upon another. Retracing his 
steps, however, the wondrous features would again be seen; and 
the farther he withdrew from them, the more like a human face, 
with all its original divinity intact, did they -appear; until, as it 
grew dim in the distance, with the clouds and glorified vapor of 
the mountains clustering about it, the Great Stone Face seemed 
positively to be alive. — Hawtuoiune. 



298 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(b) Make outlines of topics for the following sub- 
jects; arrange your topics in paragraph groups and write 
the compositions : 

1. A Bicycle of the Latest Model. 

2. First Signs of Spring in the Vegetable World. 

3. A Convenient Electric Motor. 

4. Our Debating Society. 

(c) Use the following series of facts in a composition 
of five paragraphs. Select an appropriate title for the 
composition : 

Both plants and animals are alive. Nature of life not known. 
Three stages of life — infancy, maturity, old age. Herein plants 
resemble animals. Plants, like animals, have digestive, circulatory, 
and respiratory systems. Sleep necessary to plants. Cold, heat, 
frost, drought, poison, and electricity affect the members of both 
kingdoms. Plants show instinct. Examples : Twiners, sensitive 
plants, Venus Fly Trap. Leaf shedding in fall would seem to 
imply forethought. This also shown by provision for scattering 
seeds. Examples: Keys of maple, chestnuts' burs, wind-blown 
seeds of grasses, abundance of seeds of wild peony or of poppy, 
thistle puffs. These facts prove close relations of all living things. 
Remarks on the wonders of Nature. Revealed only to observing 
eyes and studious minds. 

(d) Select in your fifth reader some prose lesson four 
or five paragraphs in length. Eead it carefully. Note 
the capitalization and punctuation. Does the passage 
contain any errors in grammar ? in composition ? Is 
each sentence clear ? 

What is the topic of each paragraph ? Which para- 
graph is the most important ? Why ? What word or 
words in each paragraph (after the first) link it with 
the preceding one ? 

What are the loose sentences in the selection ? The 
periodic ? The balanced ? Could any sentence be 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 299 

improved by condensation ? Which sentence do you 
regard as the finest in the selection ? Why ? Point out 
the figures of rhetoric. Does any one of them fail to 
add strength or clearness ? Why ? Which one do you 
like best ? Why ? 

With the reader closed, condense the lesson into one 
paragraph. 



283. Note where the subject or chief topic of the 
following paragraph is placed : 

The death of Nelson was felt in England as something more 
than a public calamity; men started at the intelligence and turned 
pale, as if they had heard of the loss of a dear friend. An object 
of our admiration and affection, of our pride and of our hopes, 
was suddenly taken from us ; and it seemed as if we had never 
till then known how deeply we loved and reverenced him. "What 
the country had lost in its great naval hero — the greatest of our 
own and of all former times — was scarcely taken into the account 
of grief. — Sotjthey. 

Place early in the paragraph the subject-topic. 

Exercise. 

(a) Fill out complete paragraphs from the subject 
sentences given : 

1. The paragraph is one division of the discourse. 

2. Our State governments should appropriate money to build 

good roads. 



3. That was the pleasantest journey I ever made. 

4. The important rules for the game are these. — 



(b) The following facts are not arranged in logical 
sequence. Group them into suitable topics for para- 



300 ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

graphs, and arrange the topics in proper order. Make 
each fact the basis of a sentence and complete the 
composition : 

TORNADOES. 

No two tornadoes move at same speed. Tornadoes arise most 
frequently in summer. Clouds gather towards evening. Heat 
usually intense. Two cubic miles of air in motion. Tornado belt 
northeast across Mississippi Valley. No wind. Rain and hail 
accompany storm. All living beings prostrated by heat. Tornado 
has gyratory motion. Sky cloudless. Large brick buildings 
totally wrecked. Nature of tornado's power. Path of storm 
is, on the average, about one-quarter mile wide. Tornado advanc- 
ing, expands, weakens. Finally dies away. Power greater than 
that of moving air. Storm arises suddenly. Upward whirling of 
air. Cyclone not a tornado. Air rushes from every side towards 
center of storm. Heavy objects, plows and wagons, often hurled 
hundreds of feet through the air. West India tornadoes terrific. 
Cannon flung across the hundred-acre parade ground in Guade- 
loupe. Five-hundred-ton vessels drawn up out of the water and 
wrecked. Pine boards driven through trees. Refuge places — 
cellars. Much destruction of life and property yearly. 



Suggestions. 

284. Keep a note-book for composition work. When 
you have selected a subject, write down what you know 
about it. Thinking on the topics you have written 
down will suggest other points for consideration. Note 
these also. Do not turn to books for help unless further 
information is absolutely necessary. After your notes 
are made, decide on the topics you wish to use and 
arrange them in logical order. Then you are ready to 
make the first copy of your composition. 

Do not write a few words and then wait to think up 
a good word or suitable phrase. Write out all that you 



STYLE AND ART OF COMPOSITION. 301 

have planned in your notes. When you have finished, 
return, supply any deficiencies you may find in the 
thought, and change the words where you can improve 
them. Be careful to place every sentence in its proper 
order in the paragraph, and every paragraph in its logical 
order in the composition. Embellish the work by adding 
such figures of rhetoric as will give it more force and 
beauty. This is the second copy. 

Finally, revise your composition, attending closely to 
grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation of the 
sentences, and make a clean copy, as corrected, for pres- 
ervation either for school use or other purpose for which 
it may have been designed. 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



PAGE 

Absolute Possessive Pronouns, _ 69 

Abstract Nouns, 23, 116 

Formation of, ...... 23 

Plural of, 56 

Acatalectic Verses, ..... 267 

Accent, Definition of, 264 

Active Voice, .79 

Addresses, 249 

Adjective, Clauses, 130 

Clauses, Definition of, . . . 164 
Elements, . . .17, 143, 146, 147 
Elements, Definition of, . . 146 

Parsing the, 77 

Phrases, ........ 127 

Pronouns, Definition of , . . . 32 
Pronouns, Demonstrative, . . 32 
Pronouns, Indefinite, ... 32 
Pronouns, Inflection of, . . . 68 
Adjectives, Article, ..... 30 

Cardinal, . 31 

Classification of, 30 

Compared Irregularly, . . 75, 76 
Compared Regularly, ... 75 

Comparison of, 74 

Definition of, 29 

Demonstrative, ..... 31 

Indefinite, 31 

Interrogative, 31 

Interrogative, Become Pro- 
nouns, 31 

Limiting, 30 

Numeral, 31 

Ordinal, 31 

Participial, 118 

Proper, Definition of, ... 30 

Qualifying, 30 

Adverb, Parsing the, 78 



PAGE 

Adverbial, Clauses, 130 

Clauses, Definition of, . . . 167 
Elements, _ . .17, 143, 152, 153 
Elements, Definition of, . . 152 
Objectives, ..... 154, 155 

Phrases, 127 

Adverbs, Classification of, _ . . 38 

Comparison of, 78 

Conjunctive, . . 38, 40, 129, 134 
Conjunctive, Definition of, . 40 

Definition of, 38 

Interrogative, .... 38, 39, 40 
Interrogative, Definition of, . 39 

Modal, 40 

of Degree, 39 

Office or Syntax of, .... 78 

of Manner, ....... 39 

of Place, --...... 39 

of Time, ........ 38 

Position of, . . . . . . .209 

Relative, 165 

Simple, Definition of, ... 38 
Adversative, Conjunctions, ... 48 
Conjunctions, Principal, . . 48 
Members of a Compound Sen- 
tence, . . 173 

Allegory, . 233 

Alphabet, 10 

Alternative, Conjunctions, . 48, 49 
Members of a Compound Sen- 
tence, 173 

Am or Be, 92 

Amphibrach, 266 

Analysis, Models for, 156-159, 162, 163, 

165, 169, 170, 174 

of the Sentence, ..... 156 

Anapest, 265 



304 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



PAGE 

Anapestic Measures, 270 

And, . . 48 

Anecdotes, ........ 245 

Antecedent, Definition of , . . _ 25 
Antecedents of Relative Pronouns, 27 
Antithesis, Definition of, ... 235 

A or An, Uses of , 30 

Apostrophe, Uses of the, . _ .228 
Appositives, Definition of, . . . G4 
Argument, Conclusion, .... 249 

Introduction, 248 

Proof, . .248 

Proper, The, ...... 248 

Arguments, 239, 247-249 

Definite Proposition, .... 248 
Terms or Elements, . . . .248 
Topic, ......... 248 

Article Adjectives, 30 

As and But, Uses of, 27 

Aspirates, _ 11, 12 

Assertive Elements, ..... 3G 

Assimilation, . 12 

Attribute, Definition of, . . _ .16 

of a Copulative Verb, _ 144,145 

Attributive, Elements, .... 36 

Object, _ 150, 151 

Auxiliaries, Form, ...... 95 

Mode, . 93 

Tense, .94 

Auxiliary Verbs, . . . . . 92, 93 

Balanced Sentence, 287 

Be, Am or, 92 

Conjugation of the Verb, . . 102 
Synopsis of the Verb, . . . 105 

Uses of, 36 

Beside and Besides, Uses of, . .199 
Between, Among, Amid, and 

Amidst, Uses of, . . . .199 

Biographies, .245 

Blank Verse, Definition of , . . . 27'2 
Brackets, Uses of , . . . . . .228 

But, 48 

Caesura, Definition of, . . . .272 

Capitalization, . _ 221 

Capitals, Rules for the Use of, 

22. 221, 222 
Cardinal Adjectives, 31 



PAGE 

Case, Definition of, 60 

Nominative, 60 

Nominative Absolute, ... 01 
Nominative Independent, . . 60 

Objective, 60, 63 

Possessive, ...... 60, 61 

Possessive, Formation of the, 

61,63 

Catalectic Verses, 267 

Causal Conjunctions, 49 

Principal, ....... 49 

Causative Members of a Compound 

Sentence, ...... 173 

Cautions, ....... 210,211 

Ceremony, Notes of, .... . 252 

Classification, of Adjectives, . . 30 

of Adverbs, . 38 

of Conjunctions, ..... 47 

of Elements, 142 

of Nouns, 22 

of Prepositions, ..... 44 
of the Sentence, ..... 18 

of Verbs, 34 

Clause, Interjection, 51 

Clauses, Adjective. . . . . .130 

Adjective, Definition of, . . 164 

Adverbial, 130 

Adverbial, Definition of, . . 164 

Complex, 131 

Compound, ....... 131 

Conjunctions in, . . . 131,132 

Definition of, 129 

Simple, ........ 131 

Substantive, .... 130, 161 

Substantive, Definition of, . . 161 
Climax, Definition of, .... 235 

Cognate Object, ...... 150 

Cognates, Definition of, .... 12 

Collective Nouns, ...... 23 

Colon, Uses of the, 224 

Comma, Uses of the, . . . 225-227 
Common, Form of Conjugation, . 108 

Gender, 58 

Nouns, 22 

Nouns Become Proper, ... 22 
Comparative Degree, . . . . 74, 75 

Comparison, 52 

of Adjectives, ...... 74 

of Adverbs, . 78 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



305 



PAGE 

Complex, Clauses, . 131 

Elements, . ... - 154 

Phrase, 127 

Predicate, . 145 

Propositions, .-..-- 173 
Sentences, .... 20, 160, 180 

Sentences, Definition of, . . 160 
Sentences Blade Compound, . 188 
Sentences Made Simple, . . 189 
Composition, Balanced Sentence, 287 
Definition of, ...... 238 

Descriptions, . . 238, 239, 240-244 

Kinds of, 238 

Loose Sentence, ..... 287 

Paragraphing, ...... 295 

Periodic Sentence, .... 287 

Sentences, ....... 385 

Style and Art of , 277 

Suggestions, ...... 300 

Variety in Words, ..... 283 

Words, 277 

Compound, Clauses, 131 

Elements, ....... 154 

Infinitives, 120 

Nouns, Plural of ...... 55 

Participles, ....... 114 

Personal Pronouns, .... 25 

Personal Pronouns, Declension 

of, . 67 

Phrase, 127 

Propositions, ...... 172 

Relative Pronouns, .... 27 

Sentence, Adversative Mem- 
bers of a, 173 

Sentence, Alternative Mem- 
bers of a, 173 

Sentence, Causative Members 

of a, 173 

Sentence, Copulative Members 

of a, 172 

Sentence, Illative Members 

of a, . . . _ _ . . .173 
Sentence, Members of a, . . 171 
Sentences, . . _ . . 20, 171, 182 
Sentences, Definition of, . . 171 
Sentences Made Complex, . .189 
Word, Definition of, .... 14 

Words, 13, 14 

Concord, Definition of, .... 194 

20 



PAGE 

194-198 
. 52 



Concord, Rules for, 
Conjugation, . . . 

Common Form of, . .108 

Definition of, .102 

Emphatic Form of, . . 108, 109 

Forms of, .108 

Interrogative Form of, _ . .109 
of the Verb Be, ..... 102 

of the Verb Love, . . . .105 

Progressive Form of, . 108, 109 

Conjunction, Parsing the, . 132, 133 

Conjunctions, Adversative, ... 48 

Adversative, Principal, ... 48 

Alternative, . . . . . 48, 49 

Causal, ........ 49 

Causal, Principal, .... 49 

Classification of ...... 47 

Coordinate, . 47 

Copulative, 47 

Copulative, Principal, ... 48 

Definition of, 47 

in Clauses, . . . . . 131, 132 

Pure, ......... 129 

Subordinate, . . . . . 47, 49 

Conjunctive, Adverbs, 38, 40, 129, 134 

Adverbs, Definition of , . . . 40 

Consonant, Digraphs, ..... 12 

Sounds, Definition of, ... 11 
Consonants, ........ 11 

Coordinate Conjunctions, ... 47 

Copula, The, 36 

Copulative, Conjunctions, ... 47 
Conjunctions, Principal, . . 48 
Members of a Compound Sen- 
tence, ....... 172 

Verb, Attribute of a, . . 144, 145 

Verbs, 35 

Correlatives, 49 

Principal, 50 

Couplet, Definition of, .... 274 

Dactyl, .266 

Dactylic Measures, ..... 271 
Dash, Uses of the, .... 228, 229 
Declarative Sentences, .... 18 
Declension, 52 

of Compound Personal Pro- 
nouns, 67 

of Nouns, 65 



306 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



PAGE 

Declension, of Pronouns, ... 66 

of Simple Personal Pronouns, . 66 

of Simple Relative Pronouns, . 67 

Defective Verbs, ...... 96 

Degree, Adverbs of, 39 

Comparative, . . . . . 74, 75 

Positive, 74 

Superlative, 74, 75 

Demonstrative, Adjective Pro- 
nouns, ....... 32 

Adjectives, 31 

Derivative, Word, Definition of, . 14 

Words, 13, 14 

Descriptions, . . 238, 239, 240-244 

Diagrams, 176 

Didactic Poetry, 263 

Digraphs, 11, 12 

Consonant, 12 

Definition of, 12 

Dimeter, 267 

Diphthongs. Definition of, . . . 11 
Discourse, Direct, ...... 139 

Indirect, ...... 139, 140 

Dissyllable, Definition of, ... 14 

Distich, Definition of, 274 

Dramatic Poetry, 262 

Comedy, 263 

Tragedy, ........ 262 

Each, Either, and Neither, ... 32 

Elementary Sounds, 10 

Elements, Adjective, . 17, 143, 146, 147 
Adjective, Definition of, . . 146 
Adverbial, . . .17, 143, 152, 153 
Adverbial, Definition of, . . 152 

Assertive, 36 

Attributive, 36 

Classification of, 142 

Clause, 17 

Complex, . 154 

Compound, 154 

Form of, 16, 17 

Independent, Definition of, 155, 156 
Objective, ... 17, 143, 148-150 
Objective, Definition of, . . 148 
of a Sentence, Definition of, . 142 
of the Sentence, . . . . 15, 142 

Phrase, 17 

Principal, .... 15,142,143 



PAGE 

Elements, Simple, ...... 154 

Subordinate, ... 16, 143, 146 
Subordinate, Definition of, . 16 
Subordinate, Office of, . . . 17 
Word, ........ 17 

Ellipsis, Definition of, .... 213 

Emphatic Form of Conjugation, 

108, 109 
Equivalents, ........ 185 

Etymology, 9 

Exclamation Point, Uses of the, . 224 
Exclamatory Sentences, .... 18 
Expositions or Essays, . 239, 246, 247 

Feminine Gender, 58 

Fiction, 245 

Figures of Rhetoric, 232 

First Person, _ 53 

Foreign Languages, Plural of 

Nouns from, 56 

Formal, Letters, 252 

Notes, 253 

Formation, of Abstract Nouns, . 23 

of the Possessive Case, . .61, 62 
Form, Auxiliaries, ...... 95 

of Elements, 16, 17 

Forms of Conjugation, . . . .108 
Future, Perfect Tense, .... 88 

Tense, 87 

Gender, Common, 58 

Definition of, 58 

Distinguishes Sex 59 

Feminine, 58 

Masculine, 58 

Neuter, ........ 58 

Government, Definition of, . . . 191 
Rules for, ..... 192,193 

Grammar, Definition of, ... . 9 

Grammatical, Predicate, . 16, 142, 144 
Predicate, Definition of, . . 16 

Subject, 15, 142, 143 

Subject, Definition of, . . . 15 

Heptameter, 268 

Hexameter, 268 

Histories, 245 

Hyperbole, Definition of, ... 234 
Hypercatalectic Verses, . . . .267 
Hyphen, Uses of the, 229 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



307 



PAGE 

Iambic Measures, 268 

Iambus, ......... 265 

Idiomatic Phrases, ..... 217 

Idioms, 215 

Illative Members of a Compound 

Sentence, 173 

Imperative, Mode, ...... 84 

Mode, Tense of the, .... 89 

Sentences, ....... 18 

Impersonal Verb, Definition of, . 96 

In, At, On, and By, Uses of, . . 199 

Indefinite, Adjective Pronouns, . 32 

Adjectives, ....... 31 

Independent Elements, Definition 

of, ...... 155, 156 

Indicative Mode, 82 

Tenses in the, ...... 89 

Indirect Discourse, . . . 139, 140 
Infinitive, Parsing the, .... 124 

Phrase, Definition of, ... 121 
Phrases, ........ 126 

Uses of the, ..... 121-124 

Infinitives, Compound, .... 120 

Definition of, ...... 120 

Modifiers and Attributes of, 

120, 121 
Simple, ........ 120 

Inflection, Definition of, - . . .51 
of Adiective Pronouns, ... 68 

of Nouns, 61 

of the Verb, . 79 

Informal Invitations, 252 

Interjection, Clause, ..... 51 

Phrase, ........ 51 

Interjections, Definition of, . . . 51 

Interrogation, Definition of, . . 235 

Point, Uses of the, .... 223 

Interrogative, Adjectives, ... 31 
Adjectives Become Pronouns, 31 
Adverbs, . . . . . . 38, 39, 40 

Adverbs, Definition of. . . . 39 

Form of Conjugation, . . .109 

Pronouns, 26, 129 

Pronouns, Definition of, . . 26 

Sentences, 18 

Intransitive Verbs, 35 

Introduction, Letters of, ... 252 
Introductory Syntax, . _ . _ . 15 
Inverted Order, 204 



PAGE 

Invitations, ........ 253 

Informal, ....... 252 

Irregular Verbs, ...... 92 

List of, ..... . 110-113 

Kinds of Composition, . . . .238 

Language, Definition of, ... 13 
Oral, Definition of, .... 13 

Written, Definition of, . . . 13 
Letter, Definition of, ..... 251 

Letters, ....__... 251 

Acceptances, ...... 254 

Address, ........ 256 

Body, . . 257 

Business, . . . . . 251, 252 

Formal, ........ 252 

Friendship, ....... 251 

Heading, ....... 256 

Introduction, . . . ... 256 

Message, ....... 257 

of Introduction, ..... 252 

Salutation, ....... 256 

Signature, . 257 

Subscription, ...... 257 

Suggestions, --.-.. 258 
Superscription, .. ... 258 

Term of Respect, ..... 257 

Limiting Adjectives, . .... 30 

Liquids, Definition of, .... 12 

Logical, Predicate, ... 16, 145 
Predicate, Definition of, . . 145 
Subject, . . . . . . . 15, 144 

Subject, Definition of, . . . 144 
Long Vowels, Definition of, . . .11 

Loose Sentence, 287 

Love, Conjugation of the Verb, . 105 

Synopsis of the Verb, . 107, 108 

Lyric Poetry, ....... 261 

Elegy, ........ 262 

Song, 261 

Sonnet, . 262 

Manner, Adverbs of, 39 

Masculine Gender, 58 

Measures, Anapestic, . _ ■ . . . 270 

Dactylic, 271 

Iambic, 268 

Trochaic, 269 



308 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



PAGE 

Members of a Compound Sentence, 171 

Adversative, 173 

Alternative, 173 

Causative, ....... 173 

Copulative, ....... 172 

Metaphor, ........ 232 

Meter of Verse, ....... 267 

Metonymy, Definition of, ... 234 

Modal Adverbs, 40 

Mode, Auxiliaries, ...... 93 

Definition of, ...... 82 

Imperative, 84 

Imperative, Tense of the, . . 89 
Indicative, __._.__ 82 
Indicative, Tenses in the, . . 89 
Potential, ....... 82 

Potential, Tenses in the, . 89-91 

Subjunctive, 82, 83 

Subjunctive, Tenses in the, 89. 91 
Models for Analysis, 156-159, 162, 163, 
165, 169, 170, 174 
Modes, Tenses in all the, ... 89 
Modifiers and Attributes, of Infini- 
tives, ...... 120, 121 

of Participles, 115 

Monometer, _ _ . 267 

Monosyllable, Definition of, . . 14 

Narrative Poetry, 260 

Ballad, ... ..... 261 

Epic, 260 

Metrical Romance, . . . .260 

Metrical Tale, ...... 260 

Pastoral or Idyl, ..... 261 

Narratives, ..... 239, 244-246 

Natural Order, 204 

Negation, 93 

Neuter Gender, ....... 58 

Nominative, Absolute Case, . . 61 

Case, . 60 

Independent Case, .... 60 

Notes, Formal, ....... 253 

of Ceremony, ...... 252 

Noun, Parsing the, 70 

Nouns, Abstract, 23, 116 

Abstract, Formation of, . . 23 
Abstract, Plural of, .... 56 

Classification of, 22 

Collective, 23 



PAGE 

Nouns, Common, 22 

Common, Become Proper, . . 22 

Compound, Plural of, ... 55 

Declension of, ...... 65 

Definition of, ...... 21 

Inflection of, 61 

Plural of, Formed by a Change 

within the Word, ... 56 
Plural of, from Foreign Lan- 
guages, 56 

Plural of. Irregularly Formed, 54 

Plural of, Regularly Formed, . 54 

Proper, . 28 

Proper, Become Common, . . 22 

Number, Definition of, ... . 53 

Person and, 98 

Plural, ......... 53 

Singular, . 53 

Numeral Adjectives, 31 

Cardinal and Ordinal, . . .3! 

Object, Attributive, . . . 150, 151 
Cognate, ....... 150 

Objective, Case, . . _ . . 60, 63 

Elements, ... 17, 143, 148-150 

Elements, Definition of, . .148 

Objectives, Adverbial, . . 154, 155 

Of and In, Uses of, 199 

Office or Syntax of Adverbs, . . 78 
On and Upon, Uses of, .... 200 

One, Another, 33 

Each, Other, 33 

Oral Language, Definition of, . . 13 
Orations, ....... 239. 249 

Conclusion, 250 

Discussion, 250 

Introduction, 250 

Order, Definition of, 204 

Inverted, 204 

Natural, 204 

Rules for, ..... 206-209 

Ordinal Adjectives, 31 

Orthography 9, 10 

Paragraphing, 295 

Parentheses, Uses of, 228 

Parsing, 70 

the Adjective, 77 

the Adverb, 78 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



309 



PAGE 

Parsing, the Conjunction, . 132, 133 

the Infinitive, 124 

the Noun, ....... 70 

the Participle, _ . . . . .119 

the Preposition, 128 

the Pronoun, ...... 73 

the Verb, \ . 99 

Participial, Adjectives, . . - - 118 
Phrase, Definition of, . . - 116 
Phrases, ...... 116, 126 

Prepositions, 45 

Participle, Parsing the, . . - .119 

Uses of the, 116-118 

Participles, Compound, . . . .114 

Definition of, 114 

Modifiers and Attributes of, _ 115 
Past, ...... , 114, 115 

Perfect, 114, 115 

Present, 114, 115 

Simple, ........ 114 

Parts of Speech, _ 21 

Passive Voice, ....... 80 

Past, Participles, . . . . 114, 115 

Perfect Tense, .87 

Tense, 87 

Pentameter, 268 

Perfect Participles, . . _ 114, 115 

Period, Uses of the, 223 

Periodic Sentence, ...... 287 

Peroration, ........ 249 

Person, and Number, 98 

Definition of, ...... 52 

First, ......... 53 

Second, . 53 

Third, 53 

Personal Pronouns, Compound, . 25 

Definition of, 25 

Simple, 25 

Personification, Definition of, . . 233 
Persuasion, Addresses, . . . .249 

Orations, 239, 249, 250 

Pieces of, .... 239, 249, 250 

Sermons, 239, 249 

Phrase, Complex, 127 

Compound, 127 

Infinitive, Definition of , . . . 121 

Interjection, 51 

Participial, Definition of, . . 116 
Prepositional, Definition of, . 43 



PAGE 

Phrase, Prepositions, ..... 44 

Phrases, Adjective, 127 

Adverbial, ....... 127 

Definition of, ...... 126 

Idiomatic, ....... 217 

Infinitive, ....... 126 

Participial, 116, 126 

Prepositional, .... 43, 126 

Simple, ........ 126 

Substantive, ...... 127 

Place, Adverbs of , . . . . . .39 

Plural, Number, ...... 53 

of Abstract Nouns, .... 56 

of Compound Nouns, ... 55 
of Nouns Formed by a Change 

within the Word, ... 56 
of Nouns from Foreign Lan- 
guages, .---... 56 
of Nouns Irregularly Formed, 54 
of Nouns Regularly Formed, . 54 
of Proper Names with Titles, . 57 
Poetry, .......... 238 

Definition of, 259 

Didactic, ........ 263 

Dramatic, ....... 262 

Lyric. ......... 261 

Narrative, ....... 260 

Polysyllable, Definition of, _ . . 14 

Possessive, Case, . . . _ _ 60, 61 

Case, Formation of the, . 61, 62 

Pronouns, Absolute, ... 69 

Possessives, 136 

Position of Adverbs, ..... 209 

Positive Degree, ...... 74 

Potential Blode, ...... 82 

Tenses in the, ..... 89-91 

Predicate, Complex, ..... 145 

Grammatical, ... 16, 142, 144 
Grammatical, Definition of, . 10 

Logical, 16, 145 

Logical, Defiuition of, . . .145 

The, 15, 142 

Prefix, Definition of, .... . 13 

Preposition, Parsing the, ... 128 

Prepositional, Phrase, Definil ion of, 13 

Phrases, ....... 48, 186 

Prepositions, Classification of, . 44 

Definition of, 43 

Participial, 45 



310 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



13 



Ml 



32 



25 



PAGE 

Prepositions, Phrase, 44 

Simple, . 44 

Present, Participles, . . . 114, 115 

Perfect Tense, 86 

Tense, 86 

Primitive Word. Definition of, . . 

Principal, Adversative Conjunc 

tions, 

Causal Conjunctions, . . . 
Copulative Conjunctions, . . 
Correlatives, ...... 

Elements, .... 15, 143, 143 

Parts of the Verb, .... 91 

Progressive Form of Conjugation, 

108, 109 

Pronoun, Parsing the, . . . 

Pronouns, Absolute Possessive, 
Adjective, Definition of, 
Adjective, Inflection of, 
Compound Personal, . . 
Compound Personal, Declen- 
sion of , 67 

Compound Relative, .... 27 

Declension of, 66 

Definition of, 24 

Demonstrative Adjective, . . 32 
Indefinite Adjective, .... 32 
Interrogative, . . . . 26, 129 
Interrogative, Definition of, . 26 
Personal, Definition of , . . . 25 

Relative, 26, 129, 133 

Relative, Antecedents of, . . 27 
Relative, Definition of, . . . 26 

Simple Personal, 25 

Simple Personal, Declension of, 66 

Simple Relative, 26 

Simple Relative, Declension of, 67 

Proper, Adjectives, Definition of, . 30 
Names with Titles, Plural of, 57 

Nouns, 22 

Nouns Become Common 

Proposition, Definition of 

Propositions, Complex, 
Compound, . 
Simple, . . 



Prosody, . . . 
Definition of, 
Punctuation, Definition of 



. 172 
. 172 



10,264 
. 264 



PAGE 

Punctuation, Rules for, . 15, 19, 61, 64 
Pure Conjunctions, ..... 129 
Pyrrhic, . .265 



Qualifying Adjectives, . 
Quatrain Definition of, . 
Quintet. Definition of, 
Quotation Marks, Uses of, 



80 

■r,i 

275 



Reciprocals, ........ 33 

Regrets, 254 

Regular Verbs, 92 

Relative, Adverbs, ...... 165 

Pronouns, .... 26, 129, 133 

Pronouns, Antecedents of , . . 27 
Pronouns, As and But, ... 27 
Pronouns, Compound, ... 27 
Pronoims, Definition of, . . 26 
Pronouns, Simple, .... 26 

Relatives, Preferred Use of , . . .28 

Rhetoric, Figures of, 232 

Rhyme, Definition of, 271 

Rhymes, Double, ...... 271 

Ear, . 272 

Eye, ......... 272 

Single - 271 

Triple, 271 

Rhythm, Definition of, .... 264 

Root, Definition of, 13 

Rules, for Concord, . . . 194-198 
for Government, ... 192. 193 

for Order, 206-209 

for Punctuation, . . 15, 19, 61, 64 
for the Use of Capitals, 22, 221 . 222 
of Syntax, General, . . 219,220 



Scanning, Definition of, ... . 273 

Second Person, ....... 53 

Semicolon, Uses of the, .... 225 

Sentence, Analysis of the, . . _ 156 

Balanced, 287 

Classification of the, .... 18 
Compound, Adversative Mem- 
bers of a, 173 

Compound, Alternative Mem- 
bers of a, 173 

Compound, Causative Mem- 
bers of a, . . . . . .173 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



311 



PAGE 

Compound, Copulative Mem- 
bers of a, 172 

Compound, Illative Members 
of a, . ....... 173 

Compound, Members of a, . . 171 

Definition of, 15, 141 

Elements of a, Definition of, . 142 
Elements of the, . . . .15, 142 

Loose, ........ 287 

Periodic, ........ 287 

Unity of Expression in the, . 292 

Sentences, 285 

Complex, .... 20, 160, 180 
Complex, Definition of, . . . 160 
Complex, Made Compound, . 188 
Complex, Made Simple, . . 189 
Compound, .... 20, 171, 182 
Compound, Definition of, . . 171 
Compound, Made Complex, . 189 

Declarative, 18 

Division of Infinitive in, . . 285 

Exclamatory, 18 

False Concord in, . . . . . 285 
False Sequence of Tenses in, . 285 
False Use of Correlative Pro- 
nouns in, _ 285 

False Use of Participles in, . 285 
Imperative, ....... 18 

Interrogative, 18 

Misuse of Auxiliaries in, . . 285 
Simple, ..... 19, 156, 176 
Simple, Definition of, ... 156 
Simple, Made Complex, . . 186 
Use of Conjunction for Prepo- 
sition in, 285 

Use of Preposition for Con- 
junction in, 285 

Use of Which without a Defi- 
nite Antecedent in, . . . 285 
Wrong Use of Adjective for 

Adverb in, 285 

Wrong Use of Adverb for Ad- 
jective in, 285 

Wrong Use of Possessive in, . 285 
Sermons, ....... 239, 249 

Sestet, Definition of, .... . 275 

Short Vowels, Definition of, . . 11 

Simile, Definition of, 232 

Simple Adverbs, Definition of, . 38 



PAGE 

Simple, Clauses, ...... 131 

Elements, 154 

Infinitives, 120 

Participles, 114 

Personal Pronouns, .... 25 
Personal Pronouns, Declension 

of, 66 

Phrases, ........ 126 

Prepositions, ...... 44 

Propositions, ...... 172 

Relative Pronouns, .... 26 

Relative Pronouns, Declension 

of, 67 

Sentences, .... 19, 156, 176 

Sentences, Definition of. . . 156 

Sentences Made Complex, . - 1 86 

Singular Number, ...... 53 

Slang, Definition of, 279 

Sonnet, Definition of, 276 

Sounds, Consonant, Definition of, 11 
Elementary, ...... 10 

Vowel, Definition of, .... 11 

Spencerian Stanza, Definition of, 275 
Spondee, ......... 265 

Stanza, Definition of, 274 

Spencerian. Definition of, . . 275 

Stem, Definition of, ..... 51 

Style and Art of Composition, . . 277 

Subject, Grammatical, . 15, 142, 143 

Grammatical, Definition of, . 15 

Logical, . .' 15, 144 

Logical, Definition of, . . . 144 

The, 15, 142 

Subjunctive Mode, . . . . 82, 83 
Tenses in the, . . . . . 89, 91 
Subordinate, Conjunctions, . . 47, 49 
Elements, .... 16, 143, 146 
Elements, Definition of , . . . 16 
Elements, Office of, .... 17 
Substantive, Clauses, . . . 130, 161 
Clauses, Definition of, ... 161 

Definition of, 21 

Phrases, 127 

Subvocals, 11, 12 

Suffix, Definition of, 13 

Superlative Degree, .... 74, 75 
Syllable, Definition of, .... 14 

Synecdoche, 238 

Synopsis, Definition of, ... . 105 



312 



TOPICAL INDEX. 



PAGE 

Synopsis, of the Verb Be, ... 105 

of the Verb Love, . . . 107. 108 

Syntax, . . . . . . . 9, 10, 141 

Definition of , . . . . .141 

' Rules of, General, . . 219, 220 

Tense, Auxiliaries, 94 

Definition of, 85 

Future, 87 

Future Perfect, 88 

of the Imperative Mode, . . 89 

Past, - 87 

Past Perfect, 87 

Present, 86 

Present Perfect, . .... 86 
Tenses, in all the Modes, .... 89 
in the Indicative Mode, ... 89 
in the Potential Mode, . . 89-91 
in the Subjunctive Mode, . 89, 91 

Tetrameter, 207 

The, Uses of, ........ 30 

Theme, Definition of, .... . 238 

Third Person, 53 

Time, Adverbs of, ...... 38 

To, Into, Unto, For, Toward, and 

Towards, Uses of, . . .199 
Transitive Verbs, ...... 35 

Trimeter, _ 267 

Triplet, Definition of, .... . 274 
Trisyllable, Definition of, ... 14 
Trochaic Measures, . . . - .269 
Trochee, . 265 

Use, Words of Double, . . . .133 

Verbals, Definition of, .... 114 
Verb, Copulative, Attribute of a, 

144, 145 
Impersonal Definition of, . 96 
Inflection of the, ..... 79 



PAGE 

Verb, Parsing the, ...... 99 

Phrase, Definition of, ... 93 
Principal Parts of the, ... 91 

Verbs, Auxiliary, 92, 93 

Classification of, . . ... .34 

Copulative, ....... 35 

Defective, 96 

Definition of, .34 

Intransitive, 35 

Irregular, 92 

Irregular, List of, . . . 110-113 

Regular, 92 

Transitive, 35 

Verse, 264 

Blank, Definition of, . . . .272 

Definition of, 274 

Meter of, 267 

Verses, Acatalectic, ..... 267 

Catalectic, 267 

Hypercatalectic, 267 

Voice, Active, ....... 79 

Definition of, .79 

Passive, ........ 80 

Vowel Sounds, Definition of, . . 11 

Vowels, 11 

Long, Definition of, . . _ . 11 
Short, Definition of, .... 11 

Voyages and Travels, ..... 245 

What, .......... 134 

Word, Compound, Definition of, . 14 
Derivative, Definition of, . . 14 
Primitive, Definition of, . . 13 

Words, Compound 13, 14 

Derivative, 13, 14 

Definition of, 13 

of Double Use. 133 

Varied Use of, ...... 137 

Variety in, ....... 283 

Written Language, Definition of, . 13 



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